Humanity's Turmoil
by The Lord of Silence
Summary: The Female Titan has been defeated and Annie Leonhart imprisoned deep underground. However, the true battle between mankind and the Titans is only just beginning and it will move to areas our heroes never thought they'd fight in. Old friends will become new enemies, new enemies will arise from places thought secure and in forms totally unexpected. Sequel to Humanity's Cage.
1. Prologue

**Hello everyone it's good to be back. This is the second part or I suppose book in my four part series concerning my OC Matthias Quinn. The last part ended at the same point as the end of the first season of the anime, so now we are entering into the territory explored by the manga. I will be covering several similar events which will lead to a similar conclusion, however the driving force behind all of these events is different and many parts of the story will happen differently, leading to part 3 which will be totally original in nature. I hope you all enjoy it.**

Prologue

The night air enfolded around the two men like a shroud, spreading cold over their skin. "Are you sure about this?" asked the man on the left. He had short blue black hair that gleamed slightly in the moonlight. His worn grey cloak was pulled tight about his shoulders and his right hand rested on something at his waist.

"Completely," replied the second. His head was hidden from view by the green hood pulled over it. "You're from one of the old families; you know this is the only way."

"It's just that, the balance has remained undisturbed for a century. If we upset it we don't know what will happen."

"No, we don't," admitted the raven headed man with a reluctant nod. "But, after spending the last ten years trying to forget, I've decided that we can't just sit here without taking action."

"You have a family don't you?"

"Yes."

"What will happen to them if we tip the balance? He's likely to take drastic action against us."

"He won't risk breaking the word he made. It binds him like a chain."

"You seriously think he needs to act in person to put things back again? I don't know about you Doctor but I'm not sure I want to risk my wife and son's lives on this."

The second man sighed and turned around, his glasses catching the faint trace of moonlight. "You forget Quinn, he isn't actually your son. I was there when he was dedicated; I know who his real parents were."

"That doesn't matter to me."

"I suppose not. I used to have a family before all of this. A young wife with a child on the way. Her name was Gilda. We'd decided on Emily for a girl, but we never could settle on a boy's name. I liked William, but she was more in favour of Eren."

"That's where his name comes from?"

"Yes," said Grisha Yeager. He put a hand up to his face to wipe away the small trickle of tears that had begun to run. "I watched her die Quinn. I watched her body crushed by a giant foot and then saw her swallowed whole. As much as I love Carla, I'll never be able to forget her."

"You shouldn't have to," replied Andrew Quinn, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But do you want to go through it all again?"

"If this works then I won't have to. It'll all be over and we can escape from this cage of a home."

Andrew sighed. He'd only known Grisha personally for a few days, but he'd been able to recognise a man of drive and determination. He could also see a great deal of compassion in him as well. Right now his care for others was being overridden. Whether it was out of a desire for revenge or for the greater good of Humanity he didn't know. "I know you're right. I just don't like it much. Are you sure you can handle Riess?"

"Yes. I feel terrible about this though; from what I can tell she's a good person. His influence is on her though, and we have to get the power free."

"What about, her?"

"The Riesses don't bring her to the chapel with them. It makes them feel uncomfortable."

"What about afterwards?"

"That's why we have to get out of here so fast. I'll be relying on you to get me through though; I'm not much of one for fighting."

"Don't you worry about that Doctor. Fighting is my family's profession, as it has been for nigh on three hundred years. I just hope I get to go home and see Matthias again."

"Keep yourself together and go through the plan, and we'll both see our sons again."

"Right."

The sound of a bell tolling the hour echoed through the dark night. Twelve o'clock. Without another word the two men stood up and crossed out into the moonlight clearing. As they approached the small stone building the two guards on the door turned to face them. Realising straight away what was going on they both raised their muskets to fire. Andrew's arm moved in a single clean motion, the sword blade flashing bright silver in the pale light.


	2. The Story so Far

Plot Summary and Character List

In the year 845, the Colossal and Armoured Titans appeared. These new breeds of titan displayed a previously unseen level of intelligence, carrying out a deliberate assault against the outlier city of Shiganshina. The city's outer gate was breached by the Colossal Titan who suddenly appeared in a cap of thunder, and just as suddenly vanished. The Armoured Titan then charged the inner gate of Shiganshina, smashing it into pieces in a single assault. The Titans flooded into the city and then into boundaries of Wall Maria beyond that.

Living in the city at the time were four ten year old children: Eren Yeager, Armin Arlert, Mikasa Ackerman and Matthias Quinn. When the gate was first breached Eren ran towards his house where his mother was trapped by a fallen boulder, followed by Mikasa his adopted sister. Armin and Matthias being left behind decided to send help to rescue them in the form of Hannes, one of the Garrison soldiers. Hannes was able to rescue Eren and Mikasa from the Titans, but Eren was forced to watch his mother be devoured by a titan.

The four children were lucky enough to be among those evacuated from Wall Maria to the interior space of Wall Rose. Swearing an oath to slaughter all of the Titans in revenge Eren decided to join the military, and his three friends chose to join him. They along with over two hundred others were drafted into the 104th Cadet Corps. Over the course of the next three years they formed numerous relationships with other cadets such as Jean, Marco, Annie, Reiner, Bertolt, Connie, Sasha, Ymir and Krista. Matthias's connection with Krista became a far more personal one during this time.

Five years after the overrunning of Shiganshina, the Colossal Titan reappeared and breached the gates of the fortified city of Trost. The Cadets who had only graduated from training the previous night were pressed into combat along with numerous other soldiers of the Garrison Regiment. Hundreds of soldiers died during the ensuing battle against the Titans. During the early stages of the combat Eren was seen to be devoured by both Matthias and Armin, much to the great distress of the two.

Later in the fighting however, a strange Berserker Titan intent on killing only other titans appeared. With the unwitting help of this titan the soldiers trapped inside the city were able to retake the overrun supply centre and escape the boundaries of Trost. To the surprise of everyone present, the Berserker Titan collapsed, releasing the unconscious body of Eren Yeager. During a near encounter with less trustworthy elements of the Garrison, Armin was able to convince them that Eren with his new ability to summon a titan body was not a threat to Humanity, but in fact a potential aid to them during their hour of need.

At this time, Krista Lenz chose to reveal a particularly important piece of information to Matthias regarding her past. Her real name is in fact Historia Riess, the illegitimate child of a nobleman treated cruelly throughout her upbringing. After the fall of Wall Maria she was forced to watch her own mother have her throat cut before being sent to spend the rest of her life as a soldier under a new name. Her true persona as Historia Riess is in fact a far more hollow and vindictive individual. Despite his initial shock, Matthias promises to help Historia in any way he can.

With the operation under the command of General Pixis-commander of the southern territories-Eren was dispatched into Trost to use a huge boulder to reseal the broken gateway. Shortly after transforming Eren suffered from a total loss of control, and was only rescued from it by the counselling words of Armin. Eren then proceeded to seal the gate, cutting off the only entrance the Titans had into the city.

During the battle Matthias begins to suffer from visions in which numerous strange events take place. At first he believes that they are some kind of hallucination, but eventually he sees that are in fact long suppressed memories. In the cleanup operation following the battle Marco is killed, his body being found by Jean the next day.

The cadets are then faced with the choice of which regiment to join. In the end, all of them choose to join the Scout Regiment. This is particularly a surprise in regards to Jean who had up until that point declared that he was only looking out for himself, intending to join the Military Police where he would be safe from the Titans inside Wall Sina.

Eren is handed over to the custody of the Scout Regiment after a trial in which he is nearly handed over to the Military Police who intended to execute him. Eren meets Levi, Captain of the Scouts 2nd Company and Humanity's mightiest warrior. He assigned to his special operations squad with whom he develops a budding friendship, once Eren earns their trust.

One month after the Battle of Trost the Scout Regiment departs on the 57th Exterior Reconnaissance Mission outside of the Walls. The idea being to use it as a test run for Eren's titan abilities. The Regiment comes under attack from the Female Titan, another intelligent human piloted 'titan shifter'. During this encounter Matthias discovers that he has the ability to hear the thoughts of titans. Armin has an extremely close encounter with the Female Titan, in which she voluntarily chooses to spare his life.

The Regiment retreats into a forest of giant trees and attempts to capture the Female Titan. She escapes by summoning a swarm of normal titans which devour her titan form and allow the human pilot to escape. Eren and the special operations squad are then pursued by her. The entire squad is killed when attempting to combat her, prompting Eren to transform in the Berserker Titan in an effort to combat her. The Female Titan defeats him with ease in his rage fuelled state and tears Eren's body out the nape of the Berserker Titan with her mouth.

Matthias arrives as this is happening having been forewarned of Eren's danger by his psychic ability. Catching the Female Titan by surprise he is almost successful in killing her, but fails to deliver a final blow due to her unique ability to harden the skin around her nape for protection. Matthias is rescued by Captain Levi and as a result only loses his right foot. Along with Mikasa-whose judgment is impaired by her romantic feelings for Eren-the Captain immobilises the Female Titan and pulls Eren out of her mouth, despite suffering a broken leg in the process.

The Regiment withdraws back to the Walls, with the mission deemed a failure. Armin however produces evidence that determines the identity of the Female Titan to be the heroes' former companion in the 104th cadet corps Annie Leonhart. The Scouts attempt to ambush her in the city of Stohess when Armin, Eren and Mikasa try to lure her into an underground passage. Annie sees through their ploy however and transforms into the Female Titan.

When Eren shows a sudden inability to transform due to his discomfort in fighting a former friend and ally, the Scouts are forced to attempt other methods to secure Annie. During these attempt Matthias has a revelation regarding suppressed memories which prompts him to transform in the Sentinel Titan. The Sentinel Titan then attempts to defeat the Female Titan, but fails.

Eren manages to recover from his reluctance and transforms back into the Berserker Titan. Overcome by an animalistic rage, the Berserker Titan fights savagely with the Female Titan and with the help of the Sentinel Titan defeats her. The Berserker Titan almost devours Annie once she is exposed, yet a sudden rush of emotion prompts Eren to hesitate long enough for Annie to form a defensive crystal. This crystal proves unbreakable by either human tools or the Sentinel Titan's brute force.

During the fighting the Wall is partially damaged, revealing a titan similar in appearance to the Colossal Titan sealed up inside of the Wall. The reaction from the local religion know as the Wall Cult that the breach must be sealed up at once, implies that they had prior knowledge of the titan's existence. Even after being interrogated by 1st Captain Hange the pastor is unwilling to divulge any information to the Scout Regiment in regards to the titan's origin.

With the knowledge that there is likely to be at least one more traitor within the cadets of the 104th, those that joined the Scout Regiment are confined far away from populated areas and placed under heavy guard.

Eren Yeager

Age: 15

Appearance: male of average height with dark hair and green eyes.

Personality: Tends to be stubborn and hot headed when the mood takes him. Is also extremely loyal and courageous to a fault.

Position: One of Humanity's two loyal titan shifters. Is currently ranked as a private in the Scout Regiment's 2nd Company.

Mikasa Ackerman

Age: 15

Appearance: stunningly beautiful oriental female of average height with dark hair and eyes.

Personality: Tends to be reserved around most people but often expresses large amounts of emotion towards her friends, especially to Eren who she is helplessly in love with.

Position: Currently ranked as a private in the Scout Regiment's 3rd Company.

Armin Arlert

Age: 15

Appearance: skinny male of below average height with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Personality: Can be shy and nervous at times. Possesses an extremely keen intellect and can develop a 'take charge' attitude during a combat situation. Has shown great personal courage on more than one occasion.

Position: Currently ranked as a Corporal in the Scout Regiment's 3rd Company.

Matthias Quinn

Age: 15

Appearance: slim male of average height with light brown hair and green eyes.

Personality: a rather dry individual when calm, but exudes high levels of emotion when under stress. Has showed the ability to become calm and logical during a combat situation.

Position: One of Humanity's two loyal titan shifters. Currently ranked as a private in the Scout Regiment's 3rd Company.

Jean Kirstein

Age: 15

Appearance: male of average height, with light brown hair and brown eyes.

Personality: has a short and often exposed temper. Can also be highly sarcastic and grading. Is also determined and brave when the situation requires.

Position: Currently ranked as a private in the Scout Regiment's 3rd Company.

Levi Ackerman

Age: mid 30s

Appearance: very short male with dark hair and grey eyes.

Personality: holds all of his emotions-except occasionally for frustration-very thoroughly in check. Is more than somewhat autistic in aspects of his behaviour such as exhibiting symptoms of OCD and a distinct lack of social skills.

Position: Currently ranked as Captain of the 2nd Company in the Scout Regiment.

Erwin Smith

Age: late 30s

Appearance: tall male with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Personality: a fairly balanced individual who maintains a calm level of composure in front of his subordinates. Has great drive and courage.

Position: Major-General in the Royal Army, Commander-in-chief of the Scout Regiment.

Hange Zoe

Age: early 30s

Appearance: female of average height with deep brown hair, brown eyes and glasses.

Personality: exhibits extreme mood swings switching between a highly serious individual and an excitable, highly enthusiastic person. Her more excitable personality shows very distinct signs of ADHD and probably ASD.

Position: Captain of the 1st Company of the Scout Regiment and second in command to Major-General Erwin. Also plays the role of science officer and titan specialist in the Regiment.

Annie Leonhart

Age: 16

Appearance: female of average height with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Personality: highly antisocial and expresses only limited levels of emotion at any time.

Position: Traitor to Humanity, currently incarcerated in a holding cell deep underground.

Connie Springer

Age: 15

Appearance: short male with buzz cut brown hair and brown eyes.

Personality: excitable individual of below average intelligence. Enjoys making fun, but tends to function less effectively under dangerous circumstances. Has still proven loyal to his teammates.

Position: A private in the Scout Regiment's 3rd Company.

Sasha Blouse

Age: 15

Appearance: female of average height with dark brown hair and eyes.

Personality: usually cheerful and at times childlike. Has an obsession with food and often acts via her instincts which are honed to abnormally high levels.

Position: A private in the Scout Regiment's 3rd Company.

Reiner Braun

Age: 17

Appearance: large muscular male with short blonde hair and blue eyes.

Personality: somewhat 'rough and ready' in nature. Has a distinct sense of kindness towards his teammates and displays an extreme sense of loyalty and courage.

Position: A private in the Scout Regiment's 3rd Company.

Bertolt Hoover

Age: 17

Appearance: very tall male with brown hair and eyes.

Personality: quiet spoken and conservative. Is loyal enough to his comrades, and gathered enough courage to join the Scout Regiment instead of the Military Police.

Position: A private in the Scout Regiment's 3rd Company.

Ymir

Age: 16

Appearance: tall female with freckles, brown hair and eyes.

Personality: somewhat anti-social and pessimistic. Has been known to be downright narcissistic at times, shoving proper loyalty only to Historia.

Position: A private in the Scout Regiment's 3rd Company.

Historia Riess/ Krista Lenz

Age: 15

Appearance: very beautiful female with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Personality: has two distinct personalities. Krista who is her public persona is kind, loyal and gentle in nature. Is friendly towards everybody and rarely if ever behaves selfishly. Historia is far more hollow and negative. She suffers from a distinct lack of personality, being unsure how to approach a situation properly or consistently as her true self.

Position: A private in the Scout Regiment's 3rd Company.

The Colossal Titan

Appearance: 60m tall with no skin. Has a limited amount of his face constructed of a bright pink flesh like substance. No other features visible on body.

Pilot: Unknown

The Armoured Titan

Appearance: 16m tall with no skin. Covered in a series of bone like armoured plates that protect nearly his entire body. Small amount of short grey hair.

Pilot: Unknown

The Female Titan

Appearance: 14m tall with limited amounts of skin and short blonde hair. Arms and legs are exposed and skinless while the rest of her body is covered in bright pink skin. Appears to be female unlike most titans.

Pilot: Annie Leonhart

The Berserker Titan

Appearance: 15m tall with total skin coverage and dark hair. Has glowing green eyes and a form of double sized jaw. The skin around the jaw appears to be layered directly over the gums leaving the teeth exposed on the outside of the head.

Pilot: Eren Yeager

The Sentinel Titan

Appearance: 15m tall with total skin coverage and long light brown hair. Has a black disk mark in the centre of his forehead. Mouth appears to be normal dimensions, but cheeks split back to reveal a double length jaw.

Pilot: Matthias Quinn


	3. What a Mother Knows

Chapter 1: What a Mother Knows

I knock loudly against the rough oak wood door of the village hall. The rain is pouring down in torrents and despite my wet weather gear I already feel soaked to the bone. I stamp my feet a few times as I hear footsteps hurrying to the door. It's opened by a short round faced man with greying hair. He looks in surprise as he recognises the insignia of the Scout Regiment on the uniforms of myself and my two companions. "Oh, good evening sirs," he says in the usual country accent. "What brings you to Granarber this night?"

"For now," I reply, "just a need to get out of the rain. We're on delicate business for the military."

"No one in trouble I hope," says the man as steps back to allow the three of us entrance.

"Nothing like that old man," says my tall male companion Victor. "The situation is complicated but you can rest assured we're not here to make any of your villagers mysteriously disappear."

"Well, I should hope not," says the small man with a laugh. "Life's very quiet around here up in the north. Many of our people are poor refugees from Wall Maria five years back. But I shouldn't be talking of such things now. We have a village dance on tonight so everyone's here. I'm normally the landlord of the inn Arnold McArthur. Tonight I am the provider of refreshments. If you'd like to follow me I'm sure there's a few free seats somewhere where you can take the load off your feet."

"Thank you," I say, "that would very nice."

He leads us through a small anti-room and out into a large hall. The walls are a simple smooth creamy colour and the floor is made of boards. There's the occasional window set into the wall but these are all covered by drawn curtains. The middle of the room is clear of furniture and several couples are dancing while three young men play instruments at one end of the hall. The man points us to a small table with three chairs and we all take a seat. He bustles off to attend to another table, promising to be back soon.

"I haven't been in a place like this for seven years now," I reminisce. "I'd forgotten how warm and comfortable the atmosphere was."

"Well, it certainly is, rustic," agrees Marion my other companion, who is eyeing the simple interior with some level of distaste. Marion and Victor are both senior Scouts from the 2nd Company. They've been assigned as my protectors, but I know that handlers might be nearer the mark. They're kind enough to me most of the time. I still catch them staring at me in an odd way though. I don't really blame them for mistrusting me; after all, I have the ability to transform into one of the creatures that's killed dozens of their friends over the years. Their job is to keep me from falling in to the wrong hands, but also to try and contain me should something go wrong. They were handpicked by Commander Erwin specifically for this job.

Marion is from a more prosperous background, being brought up in the city of Karanese as the daughter of a middle standing merchant. She joined the Scout Regiment when she was sixteen and proved herself a skilled warrior. That was about ten years ago. Her general appearance definitely implies her more privileged upbringing. Her blonde hair is always kept immaculate and tied up carefully behind her head. Her clothes are always pressed and cleaned neatly with very few wrinkles in them.

Victor on the other hand is a somewhat more common individual like me. He comes from a village within the interior of Wall Maria. When the Titans overran that land five years ago he along with dozens of others was driven out. He had up until that point served in the Garrison Regiment, but he decided to request a transfer to the Scouts after the break through. He hasn't told me why, but it sounds as if he lost someone dear to him during the Territory Retrieval Operation that occurred a few months later. He talks in calm tones with a casual element to his words. He wears his black hair short with neatly cut sideburns down either side.

Most people look at us in surprise as we take our seats. Travellers to this village must be a rarity as it is, never mind soldiers from the Scout Regiment. The Scouts aren't exactly known for making 'house calls' like this. After a while they all turn their backs on us dismissively and return to their drinks, food or conversation. A small boy however runs over to us. He looks excited to see our uniforms, even if they are covered in water.

"Are you soldiers?" he asks, the awe in his voice evident.

I smile, "yes we are. We're from the Survey Corps."

His eyes grow even wider at that. "You mean you go outside and fight the titans?" I nod. "Wow! You must be so brave to do that, are they scary?"

I pause for a moment. 'The Titans, scary? Hell yes. In fact the 57th Recon Mission a week ago was probably the most terrifying experience of my entire life. How do I tell this boy that in my bones all I want to do is run and hide from them, even with my abilities.'

Fortunately Marion saves from having to answer. "Yes they are. But that's why we have to train for years first to become soldiers."

"Is it hard?"

"Hard?" laughs Victor, "hard doesn't begin to cover it kid. It's one of the hardest things a soldier ever has to do. It's necessary though; if we didn't go through that training we wouldn't be able to fight."

"Have you," stutters the child in a hushed whisper, "have you ever killed any of them?"

"Who the Titans?" I ask, "Not all that many myself, but a few."

"Wow! How many?"

"Seven."

"What about you guys?" he asks the other two.

"Well, I'm not really the best fighter ever," says Marion, "so I've only killed five on my own. Twelve more though if you count team kills."

"Sixteen," says Victor, the pride evident in his voice. "Ten more assists in team combats."

"Yes, and he never lets us forget it," groans Marion.

The boy however is still staring at us in amazement. "That's amazing! Were any of you at the big battle in Trost?"

That makes me feel a little uncomfortable. At Trost I lost three of my training squad mates; Mina, Nac and Thomas. I also saw dozens of others die to the Titans during both halves of the Battle. A little reluctantly I nod, while the other two shake their heads.

"So, did you see the titan boy?"

That raises an eyebrow. I knew news about Eren would have spread to a lot of places by now, but it seems strange to contemplate the idea that he's something of a celebrity among the people. Having known Eren for over six years now, it just doesn't seem to fit him. I look over at Victor questioningly. Technically information on Eren is classified so I have to be careful in discussing him. Victor gives me a cautious nod to indicate that I can go ahead. "Yes I saw him."

"What is he like?"

I think about that for a few moments. "He's brave and loyal, but he's also a bit stubborn when the mood takes him and has trouble controlling his temper. Even with his powers he's still a person like us; he isn't perfect."

The lad thinks about this for a moment. He nods slowly as he considers this revelation. "Do you actually know him?" he asks after a little while.

"Yes," I reply.

"How?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that. Information on him is very top secret."

"Aww," moans the boy in disappointment. "Hey, what are you guys doing here anyway?"

"Official business," says Marion before I can respond. "We can't talk about it. Now run along."

"Aw, okay." The boy hurries away to a group of other little boys and girls in the corner and begins to talk to them excitedly.

"Technically this mission isn't all that official," I point in a low voice.

"Maybe not," admits Marion, "but any information on your past is potentially of great strategic importance to us Matthias. So while this isn't under the ledger, it is important to Humanity."

I sigh, "I think I preferred it when I was just another rookie with a messed up family. Now everything is so important all the time."

"You're going to have to get used to that," councils Victor. "This is who you are now, so this is your life."

"Great."

The small man comes bustling back to us about a minute later. "So, is there anything I can get you gentlemen and lady to drink?"

"No thank you," says Victor. "We would like to know if you know a woman around here by the name of Madeline Quinn."

The man looks at us curiously. "Yes I do as a matter of fact. Likes to keep to herself, seems very gloomy most of the time. She didn't come tonight."

"Where might we find her?"

"In Adlers' house I expect. She's been staying with them since she was evacuated here."

"Right then. If you could just give us some directions we'll be on our way there," says Victor rising to his feet.

"Oh, very well then. It's on the south edge of town. A small three room place it is with a small vegetable garden out the front. There should be a sign on the gate to mark it out as the Adlers' place."

"Thank you. We'll be speaking to you again tonight about some accommodation if you can manage that."

The man's face lights up at the prospect of business. "Most certainly good sir. I look forward to it."

We take our leave and pull our hoods back over our heads again as we step out into the pouring rain. I'm drenched again within only a few minutes of walking. We come a house that roughly matches the description given to us by the innkeeper. Marion bends over to examine the sign on the gate. "Yep, this is the one!" she calls out over the pounding rain. We push the gate ope and walk up the path.

Victor knocks several times on the door and we wait shivering in the wet for it to be answered. The door swings open and woman's voice answers. "Yes, oh my!" she exclaims as she sees a trio of soldiers standing on the doorstep.

"Mrs. Quinn?" asks Marion.

"Yes that's me," she answers, looking at her warily.

"We've got someone who'd like to see you."

"Hi mom," I say walking forwards and pulling back my hood to show my face.

"Matthias!" she cries, rushing out into the rain to embrace me. I hold her tightly and she kisses me on the forehead. "Oh, come in come in out of the rain, all of you."

We enter into a kind of living room where a fire is burning in the hearth. "Sit down please and take off your wet things," says my mother. Marion and Victor do so and sit down on the floor on the other side of the room. I slip my rain cloak off and bundle it up on the floor, before removing my ODM Gear and resting it against the wall. Marion and Victor do not remove theirs' as per the standard. They have to be prepared for combat at all times.

"So, who are your friends?" my mother asks after a few moments.

"Private Victor Sanders of the Scouts 2nd Company," says Victor, standing to introduce himself.

"And I'm private Marion Blumen also from the Scouts 2nd Company," says Marion, also standing. "We've assigned as your son's, escort." She hesitates over that last word, as if not quite sure how to describe their role to her. After all, it isn't exactly an easy thing to tell a woman that your job is to hold her son's leash.

"I see," says my mother nervously looking at me. "But, why does he need an escort?"

I look at the two of them to ask how much I can tell her. "She's your mother Matthias, she at least deserves to know that much," says Victor. "Besides, if your memories are correct she already knows enough to put make a reasonable guess why."

I sigh. "Mom, have you heard about the Stohess incident this far north yet?"

"Yes. Apparently there was some kind of fight between a group of titans there five days ago. No one knows how any titans managed to appear within Wall Sina."

"They were able to appear there because when they first entered the city they looked like ordinary humans. One of those titans is called the Female Titan. She attacked the Scout Regiment during the 57th Recon Mission a week ago, in an attempt to kidnap Eren Yeager. You remember Eren right?"

"Of course. But why would someone want to kidnap Eren?"

"Because he's the titan boy everyone is talking about from Trost. He's the one who sealed up the hole in Wall Rose."

My mother stares at my in disbelief. I suppose that makes sense. Knowing Eren from the brief time we spent in Shiganshina along with my regular letters to her, the idea must seem preposterous. But it's all true despite that. "There's more," I continue. "There were three titans at Stohess. One was the Female Titan, whom the Scout Regiment was attempting to apprehend. The second was Eren's titan. I think you already know who the third titan was." Mom puts a hand to her mouth. I can see in her eyes that she knows. I can see that she knows and wishes it wasn't true.

"I was that third titan. I know now that I'm one of them, that I'm not properly human. I also know that, that I'm not actually your son."

Tears begin to stream down her cheeks and she looks away from a moment. Then she sits down and looks at me. "No," she admits finally. "No you're not. Your father and I tried to have a child for years, but with no success."

"And then one day you found me in the woods."

"Yes. Your father and I enjoyed walking there together at night. That time the snow only added a romantic element. Then there was this great crash and something came hurtling through the trees. It stopped at the edge of the river. Your father didn't want me to go and look, but I was curious.

"There was this huge thing, lying in the snow. Its face, dear god it was hideous. It was around elven metres tall, all disproportionate in its arms and legs. It was sending off a great cloud of steam into the night sky. I knew what it was when I saw it; everybody knew what they were supposed to look like from the stories. Before I could turn and run though, the back of its neck split open and you came out. I didn't know what to make of it but, well, I couldn't just leave a little boy stuck to that thing and freezing to death.

"Andrew tried to stop me, told me that it was too dangerous. I didn't listen to him and pulled you out. You were so frail; you looked as if you hadn't eaten in days. You father said that you were dangerous, that I should leave you there. But I couldn't do that."She chokes up a little and puts a hand to her face. I put a hand on her shoulder gently, and wait for her to continue.

"In the end, I convinced Andrew to bring you back to the house so that you wouldn't die of cold. You slept all through that night and into half of the next day. I thought you might be dying. Then you opened your eyes and asked me where you were. I told you that you were safe. You said that you didn't believe me, that that was exactly what they'd told you the last time. I said I didn't understand what you meant. You fell back to sleep without saying anything else.

"The next day you were more awake and we gave you something to eat. It was rather strange what good table manners you had. It took me aback a little. You seemed to be very, hazy as to where you were and who you were. When we asked you what your name was you said that you didn't know. Then all of a sudden you became panicked and kept asking us where Angela was. Of course we didn't know anyone by that name so we told you there was no one with it here. You screamed and cried and demanded to be told what had happened to her. Then you fell back to sleep again.

"The third day, you seemed to have completely forgotten everything, including the last two days. Andrew and I had been talking about what we were going to do with you. Your father acted like he knew something about you. He even said that if you were who he thought you were that you'd suffered more than anyone else alive. He wouldn't tell me anything though. He said it was safer if I didn't know about it. In the end he said that since no family would be looking for you, that it might be best if we took care of you.

"The very next thing you asked us that morning was, if we were your parents. We couldn't think of any better way to approach it, so in the end we told you that was right. After that we did our best to bring you up. Another strange thing, was that you already knew how to read and write. You even understood a fair bit about mathematics, more than I did at the time."

"You mean, you guys never taught me those things?"

"No. You knew all that when we found you."

"And, and you don't know anything about where I came from? Who I was?"

"No, I'm sorry."

I look down at the floor gloomily. 'Is that it then? Did we come all this way for nothing?' "Mom, what happened to dad? Why did he leave?"

My mother looks at me sharply. "He said that something was about to happen in the Kingdom. He needed to go meet somebody important and help him complete a very important task. When I asked if it had something to do with you, he said that while it was related to you in some ways, it wasn't directly connected. He was supposed to return home in a few weeks time, but he never came back."

"So, he never said where he was going? Did he mention a name for the person he was meeting?"

"He called him the doctor, but that was all. He said that if he didn't come back I was to leave the village and move around once every year until he found the two of us again."

I sigh. "The doctor? What's that even supposed to mean? Doctor what? I don't remember him having any doctor friends."

"No, we didn't know anyone with that level of qualification at the time. In fact the only doctor we've ever met was Eren's father."

"Well, at least I know for sure that my memories weren't wrong. Listen mom, thank you, for everything. There aren't many people who'd take in a monster as their child."

She grabs me by the shoulders. "Now you listen to me Matthias. I don't know who you were before, but I know that right now you are my son, and I love you. I don't care if you're some creature from the pit of hell, I will never, ever stop caring about you." She pulls me into a tight embrace, and for a few moments I rest there in her arms, letting my tears flow.


	4. Reunion

Chapter 2: Reunion

The sun feels warm in the pale sky as the three of us ride along the dusty road. It's been two days now since I spoke with my mother and we've nearly reached the Regiment's current head quarters. I've been thinking about what she told me almost constantly and the one thing I know that I need to do now is to find my father. But I haven't got the faintest idea how to do that. He could be anywhere, or he could be nowhere. The change in the Kingdom never happened. Unless of course he was referring to the Fall of Wall Maria. I can't discount the possibility that he may be connected to that in some way, though how I can't fathom.

'One thing's for sure though, he knew about me. How much I don't know but the evidence implies that he knew about my past. Why didn't you ever tell me anything dad?' My thoughts suddenly flash back to when he'd give me advice about things. His favourite piece had been that it wasn't the past that mattered, it was the present that did. 'Could I in some way be connected to something horrible? Is that why he always told me not to worry about the past; he was preparing me for when he felt I was ready to be told about what I'd done? But what could I have done? I was only six years old when they found me.'

Vivid flashes of blood, screaming faces and chases over grassy flatlands after people on horses provide me with a grim reminder. I still don't understand everything, but from those memories I have it seems that for a time at least I was trapped in my titan body outside of the Walls. I can remember numerous encounters with people who can only have been Scouts. It turns my stomach to remember how the titan body had reacted. Regardless of who was inside it, the titan was still a titan and so had only one goal on its mind: to feed.

I'm not really sure if I should feel guilty or not. To be fare that wasn't really me doing those things, it was more that I was forced to watch and experience them. Still though, it feels like it was me and that bites deep at me. I've been remembering more and more things as time passes, but all of them are small details, or just more terrible days as a titan. I can't remember anything of my life before that.

 _"Can this really be necessary?"_ says a familiar voice inside my head. Even though I've had my powers for a week now, and I've started to get used to being able to hear Eren's thoughts, the sudden sound makes me jump. It's very strange how I only seem to have the ability to hear the thoughts of over titan shifters, or titans themselves. All other people are perfectly silent for me. I've tried to see if I can turn the ability off, without success. Ever since it started during the Recon Mission it's been going full stop.

 _"I mean, I know we have to run tests but this seems rather degrading."_

I concentrate as hard as I can on Eren's voice and think directly at it. 'Hey Eren, it's Matthias. Can you hear me?'

 _"Oh crap don't do that! Yes I can hear you. You're getting close to Headquarters then?"_

'Suppose so. What exactly are you complaining about?'

 _"Ugh! Captain Hange wants to run some more tests on my titan form. She's getting me to do all sorts of ridiculous things like walking in a straight line and copying gestures. I suppose it's important to test my coordination and things, but we have done all this before. Several times."_

I smile. 'Perhaps I shouldn't disrupt the testing. You know how fussy she gets about that sort of thing.'

 _"Yeah probably. We're in old quarry at the moment if you're not a hurry."_

'I don't think we are. See you in a few minutes.'

I let my concentration slip away and look up. "Hey," I call out to Victor, "Eren's in the old quarry helping Captain Hange out with some tests. Is it all right if we stop by there first?"

"I suppose so," says Victor. "You know you're not supposed to use your abilities unless you're given permission."

"Oh but those are titan powers. This is different."

"I don't make the rules Matthias. If you want to get specific you can always take it up with Commander Erwin."

I pull a face. "I'm not sure this counts as a matter of sufficient importance to bother the Commander with it somehow."

Four minutes later we take a side road out of the woods and begin heading down hill. Following a winding path through a progressively more rocky area, we come to stop overlooking a deep pit in the ground. The pit is about thirty or so metres tall with several narrow tracks winding down towards the ground. It's the main testing ground Captain Hange uses to run tests on our titan forms. I've only gone through a single set of tests with varying levels of success.

My titan form did prove to be capable of speech when it came down to it. I do however appear to be limited to a very small vocabulary, and I can only use it in short sentences. It's like trying to lift a weight that's too heavy for your body to manage. You struggle and splutter and can only achieve limited results. I think the brain the titan body possesses simply isn't up to the task of speaking fluently.

Right now, the Berserker Titan is attempting to balance a rock on his head. It looks rather comical to watch this fearsome killing machine performing silly little feats like this. Still as Captain Hange is so fond of saying: "It's all in the name of science!" I dismount and lead Edward over to a nearby tree. Looping the reins around it several times, I tie him off. I give his head a good rub and he flicks his ears slightly. "Not much longer now boy, and you'll be back in the nice comfortable stables of the Scout Regiment," I tell him before hurrying off towards the path down.

I stop on a wide ledge about twenty metres up from the bottom. Armin, Mikasa and several of Hange's assistants are standing around watching as the Captain waves frantically at the Berserker Titan to get him try balancing on one foot. Armin turns around as I come down. "Oh hi Matthias," he says in surprise. "We weren't expecting you to come here."

"I asked if it was all right if we took a quick detour before heading back to HQ," I explain. "I picked up Eren's grumbling several minutes ago and we had a brief conversation."

"Ah, so that's what that was. The Captain was getting cross because he didn't seem to be paying attention to her."

"Oh, best not to tell her then."

"So how'd it go?"

I let out a long breath. "It could have been better. Mom doesn't really know much I didn't already remember. The implication is that my dad knew a lot more, but we've no idea where he is. What's happened here while I was away?"

Armin shrugs, "not all that much. Eren's been through a few more tests. He still can't speak but he seems to have proper control over himself. If he transforms to many times in short intervals he gets very tired though, and his control seems to become less secure."

"Armin's been prompted," interrupts Mikasa from behind him.

"Mikasa!" Armin exclaims, his ears turning bright red in embarrassment.

"Really?" I ask, astounded. "That's great news! Promoted to what?"

"Corporal of the 4th squad. It's not really that much to talk about really."

"Armin, that is false modesty. You haven't even been in the Scouts for two months and you're already in charge of a squad. I'd say that was rather outstanding."

"Well, I guess so," admits Armin, staring at the ground uncomfortably.

"I suppose that means I should call you sir now."

"Oh please don't!"

I laugh. Before I can say anything else I'm distracted by a thunderous crash from down in the quarry. The Berserker Titan has dropped the rock he was carrying a few moments before.

 _"Geshetar!"_ Eren roars inside my head. In the real world he throws back his head and lets out a massive roar of rage before sprinting towards the southern side of the quarry and leaping up at the cliffs. _"Geshetar! Geshetar!"_ he continues to howl, his entire being overcome by a sense of unparalleled anger.

I feel a sharp pain stab into my head and I fall to my knees, clutching at my forehead. "Geshetar!" I hear myself screaming at the top my lungs. "Geshetar!" Everyone begins scrambling to get a safe distance away from me and Berserker Titan.

"We need containment procedures!" calls out the Captain. "Mikasa get Eren out of there!"

Just as suddenly as it came the intense pain subsides and I find myself gasping for breath.

 _"What, what the hell?"_

"Wait, hold on!" I call out, holding up a hand. "We're okay. It was, it was, I don't know what it was."

An hour later and the five of us-Hange, Eren, Mikasa, Armin and myself-are all sitting in the map room with Commander Erwin and Captain Levi. "Can you describe to us exactly what this sensation was like?" asks the Major-General.

"It's difficult to put into words," says Eren.

"Yes, it was an almost primal urge of sorts," I agree. "A bit like when the Female Titan sent out the call to the wild titans in the giant forest."

"Eren, can you remember why you were trying to get out of the pit?" asks the Commander.

"Nothing clear I'm afraid sir," he replies. "I wanted desperately to go somewhere. No, that's not right; I wanted to go after someone. It made me so angry I can't describe it properly. It was like the greatest sense of wrong I've ever felt."

The Commander looks thoughtfully at a spread out map of the three Walls. "We haven't as yet been able to locate any untoward events within the Walls that could have produced any kind of reaction in the two of you. However, it is only a short time since the episode, so we can't assume that nothing has happened that could be related."

"Commander if I may," interjects Hange. "It seems to me that there must be some significance in the word that Matthias kept shouting. For the brief time in which the two of them were under the influence of whatever this was, they both uttered it over and over again. The only difference is that Eren being in titan form was unable to do so successfully."

"What word was that?" asks the Commander.

"Geshetar."

I instinctively tighten my hand into a fist at the word, and Eren tenses up noticeably as well. "We're fine," I say as everyone looks at us. "That word, it just feels like something, something wrong. I'm sorry but it feels like it shouldn't be said."

Eren nods. "It's like how parents won't allow their children to use foul language. It upsets me to hear it coming from anyone."

"In that case why were you two saying it?" asks Levi. "Is it supposed to be the Titan equivalent of a swear word?"

"Maybe," I reply. "I don't have any real idea I'm afraid. When the experience happened, I couldn't seem to help myself. It hurt, both physically and personally. Like watching someone you care about die."

"And having to feel the pain of their death yourself," adds Eren. I nod grimly.

"Whatever the cause of this attack, it means that we have to be more careful in future when either of you is in titan form," says Erwin. "If you can have control snatched away from you by whatever this was, it could pose a real danger to those around you."

The idea of losing control and becoming a wild titan again makes me shiver. Even though Eren as far as we can tell never spent any time in that kind of state, he knows enough about losing control to give me a sympathetic look. When he lost control it was in the thick of combat with the Female Titan. He let his anger take over from him, and that gave the titan the reigns. Thankfully the titan was totally focused on the task of defeating the Female Titan, so didn't go on a rampage against any humans.

"On a side note," says the Commander, "has any new information been retrieved from the Wall Cult pastor we interrogated?"

"Not a word," says Levi bitterly. "He won't talk for anything. We offered him money, pain, Hange even threatened to throw him off the Wall initially. He isn't giving us anything. Says that the information is not his to divulge and that he couldn't tell us anything even he was willing."

"That implies some kind of hold over him," ponders Erwin. "Does the man have any family that could be being held hostage?"

Hange shakes her head. "He's a widower with no children. The thing that worries me is that old Nick doesn't seem to be that bad a guy. He's actually kind of virtuous in some respects. And not that kind of annoying virtuousness some religious people have," she adds. "He genuinely seems to think that giving us any information would be a bad thing. Which begs the question..."

"...what sort of information could possibly be so dangerous?" finishes the Commander. "Do you have any theories regarding why there was a Colossal type titan inside of Wall Sina Hange?"

"Several. None of them make all that much sense though. Is it meant to protect the people from the titan, or the titan from the people?"

"Um, if I may," pipes up Armin, "I actually have an idea about that." Everyone looks at him expectantly. When Armin feels willing to submit a theory it's usually right. "Well," he begins nervously, his voice becoming more confident as he continues, "supposing the titan is not so much inside of the Walls, but a part of them? A mystery that's always surrounded the Walls is their origin. When the Titans appeared Mankind was pushed to the brink of extinction almost overnight, so how did we find time to construct fifty metre tall walls? On top of that, how is it possible that no technology from the time of their construction still survives?

"I'm proposing that the Walls may be made up of a substance similar to that covering the Armoured Titan. We saw that the Female Titan could harden select portions of her body when she needed to, it may be possible for a titan as large as that one to exude this 'titan stone' outside of its body. If that's the case then the Walls could actually have been constructed by titans."

Everyone by this time is staring at Armin in amazement. The explanation makes sense in some many ways, and yet it never occurred to anyone up until that point. "That," begins Hange slowly, "that may be one of the best ideas I've ever heard! You mister Arlert are a genius!" Armin turns slightly red at her praise.

"It's just a theory," he says, "but my gut tells me it's the right one to go with. Until we learn any more at least."

"That 'titan stone' theory might explain how," says Levi, "but it doesn't explain why. Why would the Titans want to provide us with such an ideal form of protection from them?"

Armin opens his mouth to reply, but before he can say anything the door bursts open and a young man from the Garrison Regiment rushes in, panting hard. "Major-General Erwin," he gasps, "I've been sent by General Pixis to tell you that we have a level Alpha situation on our hands!" Everyone sits bolt upright at that, even Captain Levi. Level Alpha is reserved exclusively for Titan attacks. "The Titans have appeared to the South, between Trost and Karanese. No breaches have been reported at any of the gates. The Titans have breached Wall Rose itself!"


	5. The Breach Part 1

Chapter 3: The Breach Part 1: Mankind's Worst Fears

Less than two hours after my return to the Scout Regiment's Headquarters and I'm already on the move again. I had hoped for a little stability for a few days, but that hope has been dashed. By this point the sun is most of the way down, its fading rays turning the cloudy sky a deep orange. It's starting to get cold out here and I wrap my cloak more tightly about my shoulders. I'm grateful that for once I don't have to ride a horse. Edward is pleasant enough company for an animal, but saddle soreness is always something of a problem after a long journey.

The wagon we're sitting in is bumping along slightly due to its pace and poor condition of the road. Only the main roads get regular maintenance so this one is in rather poor condition. I fiddle nervously with one of my handles, flicking the blade holder on and off. "Will you quit doing that!" snaps Captain Levi in annoyance.

"Sorry sir," I apologize, putting the handle back into its holster under my cloak and jacket.

"Do we actually have any sort of plan of response for this kind of situation?" asks Eren worriedly. "I mean, we always assumed that if a breach came it would be at one of the gates."

"Officially there isn't really a proper plan of action," admits Hange. "The inhabitants of Wall Rose are supposed to be evacuated into the under cities of Wall Sina. The food there is likely to run out within a few weeks though, not to mention the space. Infighting is likely to start within a matter of days."

"But, what are we going to do about plugging the breach? There must be some way."

"There is an idea Armin and I have been working on. It's still in its infancy though. How about I let the Corporal explain it himself?"

Everybody looks at Armin to hear what the plan is. At first Armin seems confused and then perks up when he remembers his new rank. "Oh right," he says, "Well it revolves around the theory I had about the Titan Stone. I figure that if the Female and Armoured Titans were able to create it in order to protect themselves, then Eren and Matthias should be able to do the same. The actual details of the plan are still very hazy, but we-that is the Captain and I-think that one or both of you two may be able to create the Stone necessary to close up the hole. You would then leave your titan bodies and the stone should hopefully remain in place."

"That doesn't sound like much of a plan to me," says Levi. "You're going on the presumption that only was your first theory correct, but that either Matthias or Eren can make use of that ability, **and** that they can just leave statues of themselves in place to hole up the breach."

"Well right now it's the only plan we've got," says Hange. "We might be able to come up with a better one if somebody would give us some information." She adds, looking meaningfully at Pastor Nicholas who is sitting on the far end on the wagon, not looking directly at anybody.

"Why did we even bring him?" asks Mikasa. "He isn't willing to tell us anything, so I can't see what possible use his presence could be."

"We're hoping," explains Hange, "that if he gets a look at what the people are going through it might appeal to his better nature."

"There is nothing," says the Pastor wearily, "that can convince me to speak."

Mikasa snorts in disgust and Levi looks away in equal irritation. Eren looks exasperated and Armin simply disappointed. "Excuse me," I say, "but I was wondering, why do you believe that the Walls are gods exactly?"

The Pastor looks at me surprised. "Whatever gave you that idea? Worship the Walls? The Walls my son are not in themselves supernatural. It is true that there are more radical members of the faith that believe that they are the embodiment of the three ancient goddesses for which they are named, but most of us hold to a far more reasonable belief. The Walls are our divine gifted protection against the demons dwelling in the lands beyond, placed there by God himself!"

"And I suppose that I count as one of those demons then?"

The man falters slightly. "What are you trying to get from me?"

"Nothing," reply with perfect truthfulness, "I'm curious about the beliefs of others. Religion has always seemed, strange to me. I can understand the need to explain the existence of man and the world, and to find some greater purpose in life, but I really can't see the reasons behind the beliefs most people have."

Pastor Nick looks at me curiously. "You are a very strange you man," he says at last.

"In more ways than one," I point out with a smile.

"Yes, I suppose so. To answer your question, I initially did hold to the belief that both you and this other young man were monsters, foul deceptions of the Great Enemy outside the Walls. In light of more recent events I am less certain. My faith is not shaken; it is easy for a mortal with a finite mind to misunderstand the situation."

"Thank you I suppose."

"As for why I hold true to my faith? Let us say that I have been shown enough to convince me."

"Hmm. This Great Enemy from beyond the Walls, does he have a name?"

"Not he, it. The Great Enemy is a force, a concept, an, an action almost. It is something that has been given reason and purpose that should not have been. We call it Geshetar."

Eren and I both sit bolt upright in shock. "Wait," says Armin looking up in surprise, "did you just say-

"Don't say it!" hisses Eren.

"Sorry," says Armin, a little taken aback.

The Pastor looks at the two of us curiously. "Young man," he says to me, "your name was Matthias wasn't it? What is your last name?"

"Quinn," I reply, "but what's that got to do with it?"

"And you, what about yours," he asks Eren.

"Yeager."

The Pastor lets out a long breath. "If that's the case then I don't see what you need me for. You'd be better suited to ask your fathers about this."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"As I've been saying for some time now, I will not tell you."

"Brilliant!" cries Eren throwing both hands in the air. "We already knew that piece of information, so thanks for nothing. Unfortunately, both our fathers are currently missing!"

"Hmm, I suppose that would make sense," mutters the Pastor.

"Agh!" Eren grunts, throwing himself into his seat.

"Sir," calls out the driver, "we're coming up on the forward HQ now."

"Finally, something that borders on good news," growls Levi, shooting Pastor Nick a glance that would correspond rather well with a dagger.

The forward HQ is an old two story manor house. It was probably built for some aristocrat as a holiday home. No noble wants to use a holiday home outside of the interior now though, not since Wall Rose became the exterior. Inside the courtyard there are dozens of soldiers-most from the Garrison-running hither and thither carrying reports, crates, bags, boards, muskets and all manner of items. I notice with surprise that a single squad standing over in the far corner of the courtyard and watching the others with contempt bear the green unicorn emblem of the Military Police. "What are the MPs doing here?" I wonder out loud.

"Since the Stohess incident," explains Armin, "high command has decided to start making use of its special elite troops. They don't look too pleased about it though."

"No. Why are they just watching people; shouldn't they be doing something?"

"Probably."

I shake my head. 'The Military Police: the best of the best huh? Not sure how well that title fits after Stohess to be honest. Before hand I at least had some respect for the skill the MPs had to display to make in, but after that day all I can think is how foolish anyone would be to join them. Foolish or a coward.'

Within the house itself the lighting is dim and people are still running everywhere. Commander Erwin walks up to an elderly man with long grey hair. The man turns smartly on his heel and salutes the Commander. "Major-General Smith," he says, bowing his head in respect.

"At ease Captain," says Erwin. "Tell us, what's the situation?"

"Multiple patrols have been sent out in an effort to locate the point of the breach. None of them have returned yet but that isn't surprising. There's a lot of ground to cover between here and Trost."

"I suppose there would be. How are we doing on getting the local villages warned off?"

"Actually, your people are seeing to that."

"My people?"

"Yes, those young Scouts who were deployed out here. There were only a few soldiers with them who had ODM Gear, so it was arranged that they would locate and warn the local villagers."

"I see. Well, as soon as possible I want patrols sweeping this area. If we can locate that breach we do have a developing plan to shut it up. In the mean time we need to engage and cut down all the titans we can. The fewer that get through into the heart of Wall Rose the easier clean up will be."

"Understood sir. Are we to continue acting in the dark then sir?"

"Most definitely. The Titans become slow and sluggish in the dark without sunlight, so that's the best time for us to try and locate the breach."

I run my fingers through my hair nervously. "It sounds like the others from 104th are out there."

"Are you sure?" asks Eren.

"You know any other Scouts who'd be out here without ODM Gear?"

"I hope they're okay."

"So do I. There's something else I've been wondering about. If we were both affected by, well whatever it was, what about the traitor? We're almost certain that there's at least one other traitor inside the 104th, so what if they keeled over as well? We'd have their identity more or less proven."

"Hmm," ponders Armin. "That's a pretty good point. I guess we'll need to try and find them as soon as possible then. It's probable that whoever it is may try to slip away during the panic the breach creates. If that's the case we may never find them."

"Hey," interrupts Captain Levi. "We're going to need every pair of feet we can get, so you lot are going out on patrol as well got it?"

"Yes sir," acknowledge Eren, nodding.

"I want you all outside in five minutes."

In five minutes twenty four Scouts have been assembled in the courtyard. Armin looks a little nervous at the head of five of his own soldiers. We've divided into four standard six man squads. Captain Levi is leading one which contains Eren, Armin is set to lead another, while Mikasa and I have both been parcelled off into separate squads as well. Jean-who's assigned to my squad-gives me a nod as I fall into place beside him.

"All right listen up," orders Levi. "We know that the Titans have already breached Wall Rose for real this time. This time they haven't just kicked in a gate, they've busted a hole in the actual Wall itself. For now we're focusing on containment until we can find the source of the breach. Your task is to probe around the area where the breach is likely to be. That's everywhere between here and ten kilometres of Trost, up to fifty kilometres in. Any titans you see are to be taken down as rapidly as possible. Also keep an eye out for our fellow Scouts who are currently wandering around out there without 3D Manoeuvre Gear. If you find any you are to bring them with you. Warn off any civilians you find and be on the lookout for the point of the breach whenever you get near to the Wall. Move out!"

"Sir!"

The last rays of the sun provide very little warmth or light to show our way, but with the help of torches we manage to pick our way along the old hunting tracks. I keep glancing over my shoulder, expecting to see a titan's face leering out of the darkness. The whispering that forms the thoughts of ordinary titans began about five minutes ago, and ever since then I've been anticipating the sudden appearance of the enemy.

"Can you stop acting like an exposed rabbit?" says Jean. "It's getting on my nerves."

"Sorry," I respond, "it's just, I don't know, I feel like we're walking right past them and we can't even see it."

"Huh, well you're the one with the psychic powers."

"No, it isn't like that. I think I'm just a little bit afraid of the dark."

"Everyone's afraid of the dark," he mutters. "People just ignore that fear when they're in places they know."

"Words of wisdom indeed. Didn't expect them coming from you."

"Yeah well, I've probably just been talking to Armin too much."

"Cut the chatter you two," comes the voice of Victor from the front of the patrol. "Whether we like it or not there are titans out here somewhere. I'd rather not have them drawn to us by the sound of your voices."

The group rides along in silence for several minutes. Then, _"he's here somewhere; I can feel him."_ The voice is deep, rich and echoes, like someone speaking into a barrel or something.

"Sir, I can hear someone," I warn.

"Squad halt," orders Victor in a hushed tone. "Who?"

"I don't know. It isn't a voice I recognise. He says he can feel somebody. I think he's looking for Eren or me."

"Great, another enemy titan shifter. That's all we need! He probably had something to do with breaking through Wall Rose."

"If he's able to break through a solid part of the Wall, then I'm not sure I want to meet him," mutters Jean.

"Quiet back there," hisses Victor.

We all sit still and listen. Then faintly off in the distance, we hear the sound of booming footsteps. _"Wait a minute, what's this? Oh ho! The unmade sacrifice; this is simply perfect! Well, well my boy, I suppose you're listening in to what I'm thinking?"_

I stiffen in my saddle. 'H-how? How does he know? Can he see us? Where is he?'

 _"Why my dear boy..."_

"...I'm right over here," says the titan, as its huge hair enshrouded face looms out of the darkness.


	6. The Breach Part 2

Chapter 4: The Breach Part 2: The Beast Titan

The entire group freezes, overcome by fear. The horses tremble beneath us, but don't bolt. The titan looks over each of us in turn, as if inspecting a group of thorough breeds that aren't up to standards. "Not particularly impressive," he says at last. His voice is just like it was in my head, deep and echoing. "Still, I can't expect you to always keep the best company can I?"

Victor swallows nervously and takes his horse forwards a few steps so that he is directly in front of the entire group. "Who are you?" he asks, making a noticeable effort to keep his voice level. "What do you want?" The Beast Titan ignores him, continuing to study the group intently. "I said, who are you and what do you want?!" shouts Victor, waving his sword in the air in front of the titan's face.

The Beast Titan raises an eyebrow and looks at him. "You're rather impertinent aren't you?" He bends his head back up out of the circle of light, then steps forwards so that he is properly encompassed within it. He's the largest titan I've seen after the Colossal, standing a massive seventeen metres. He's covered in long scraggly hair in all places excluding his face, hands, feet and chest. His eyes are a single glazed black with no pupil, white or iris distinguishable. His arms are twice as long as they should be, reaching almost down to the ground. He bends forwards so that his two massive fists are pressed against the ground. The position reminds me of pictures of some of the animals that live beyond the Walls. An ape I think it was called.

"You really aren't keeping the best company are you sacrifice?" he says, staring directly at me.

"Matthias, why is he calling you that?" hisses Jean through clenched teeth.

"No idea," I whisper back.

"Oh really?" asks the Beast Titan turning his head to one side. "I must confess that surprises me somewhat. I would have thought that you'd have remember enough by now to know that at least. It appears that I overestimated you however."

"Look I don't know what you are," spits Victor, "but I am the leader of this squad and you will address me!"

The Beast Titan looks idly at him. "I don't see why I should. After all, you are just an ordinary human, no special abilities or background that I'm aware of." Turning his gaze back to me he asks, "Was it painful?" His voice sounds almost sympathetic.

"Was what painful?" I ask.

"It happened only a few hours ago I'm sure you must remember."

"You mean, when Eren and I collapsed?"

"That would be a likely side effect yes."

"Yes it was. It was very painful."

"Awfully sorry about that. I'm afraid it had to be done though. He did give me orders expressly. Ah well, I suppose there are worse things to be than a Geshetar." He says the word with disgust obvious in his voice. My head rings slightly at the sound of it.

"Wait, so it's something that you become? Like a title or something?"

"More like a branding," says the Beast Titan with a wide smile that sends all of us shivering, "Similar to murder or thief."

"What did you do?"

"Since you don't know already I'm not really inclined to tell you. Now, as interesting as this little chat has been, I'm afraid I'm going to have cut it short now. You are coming with me."

"Why should I do that?"

"Because if you do not then I will have my associates here devour your friends." As he speaks ten standard titans ranging from eight to fourteen metres in height step into the circle of light. All of them stare down at us with hungry eyes, but don't make any move to take anybody. "You come with me and your friends go free. On my honour," he adds very sternly, raising one hand in the air, in the typical gesture for swearing oaths.

"Matthias, don't," says Victor. "We're soldiers; we can fight them off."

"All ten of them at such close range? I very much doubt that," says the Beast Titan grinning. "And don't think about transforming in an effort to save your friends. Even if you manage to retain control, you'd be unable to stop me from killing them myself."

I look around me in panic. 'He's right about us having no chance against ten titans at close range, especially when they're all over eight meters tall.' "What exactly are you going to do with me?" I ask, trying to keep my voice level.

"Oh nothing to severe. Just take you to meet someone who can wipe your memories. Then he'll set you free and you can wander around outside the Walls until your heart's content."

"Wait, you want to turn me back into a titan?"

"That is the general idea behind the whole freedom thing."

"How is that freedom?! It's nothing more than a living death of constant pain and torture. Surely you would know that!"

"I'm rather inclined to disagree. You see, I am a titan through and through. No person working this body. I rather enjoy being what I am, so I would think you would as well."

"Not a chance!"

"So, are you going to stay here and force me to go through all the unpleasantness of having your little friends chomped up into pieces?"

I hesitate. I want to say that I won't go with him, but I can't afford to let him release those titans. 'If there's a chance that he'll let them go I have to try it don't I?' Trembling, I look the Beast Titan straight in the eyes. "Let them go. I'll come with you."

"Matthias no!" cries Victor.

"You guys put as much distance between yourselves and this thing as you can. Don't look back, please." Everyone just stares at me helplessly. "Go dam you!" I scream at them. Hesitantly, the rest of the squad begins to pull away.

Jean pauses and looks me in the eye. "Matthias, we're not going to leave you okay? We'll be back."

I nod, trying to keep my breathing level. The circle of light is carried away into the night, leaving me alone in the dark. The moon is currently behind clouds, so I can't see a thing. I know that I'm still surrounded by titans though. I can't stop myself from shaking in fear, and in the end I have to bend over Edward's neck and try to curl myself up into a ball.

"You're not going to need that smelly little animal where we're going," announces the voice of the Beast Titan out of the pitch black. "Get off it and let it go." I slip out of the saddle and give my horse a final rub on head, before I set him off into the darkness at a run. Now I'm totally alone. I can't feel anything around me except for the ground I'm standing on. I can hear the Beast Titan shifting his weight around in the blackness. My breathing is erratic, coming in ragged gasps.

A darker shade of dark moves towards me out of the shadows and I feel a massive hand seize me. The long spindly fingers wrap themselves around my waist and pin my arms in place. I can feel myself being lifted up into the air. I stare intently forwards, trying to make out the huge face that must be only a few metres away. There's nothing except black though.

Then we begin to move. I can feel the air moving past me, and the pitch and sway as I'm carried by a giant hand. "How, how can you find your way?" I ask.

"I see perfectly fine in the darkness," explains the Beast Titan. "I'm sure you could as well, if in a more appropriate form. But don't think about changing, I've pinned your arms and legs in place. You don't have anything bite into."

I try struggling, attempting to pull my arms free. It's no use; his grip is more than ten times stronger than my own. In the end I give up and hang limp. 'Oh hell, oh hell! What do I do now? I can't just go along with this, but I don't see how I can escape either. The chances of anyone finding us in this darkness are so minuet I might as well forget about them. No one is coming to save me.' I remember that Armin told me how Annie was able to use a spiked wring to cut herself in order to transform. 'Is there some other way I can trigger it without biting my hand? I can't move my arms at all, so cutting myself on a part of my gear isn't an option. There must be some other way!'

I try wriggling again. It accomplishes nothing. The only thing which I'm able to move is my head; everything else is pinned in place. 'So I have the thing to bite with, I just don't have anything to bite into.' I nervously run my tongue over my teeth. Then it hits and I wonder how I could have been so stupid as to miss it. 'This is going to hurt, but then again it always does.' I stick my tongue between my teeth, open my mouth and bite down hard on my tongue. The pain is agonising like usual. It only lasts a moment though as almost immediately I'm consumed in a massive flash of yellow light.

'They'll probably see that form dozens of kilometres away,' I think as the hand which was gripping me like a vice is prized open by the extensive force of the explosion. My titan body practically rips into existence, arms, legs, head and torso all blasting into reality around me. I land with a crash and take a wild swing at whatever's in front of me. My fist connects with a hard body, sending it flying away from me. The blow feels like it broke my right hand though.

I let out a roar and blink several times in an effort to adjust my vision to the darkness. Slowly, the world before me comes into focus as my eyes draw light from the faintest of sources. I can see the Beast Titan climbing back to his feet about thirty meters away, pushing himself up from the side of the hill he crashed into. There's a large forest away to my right, filled with tall oaks. I can also see numerous titans roaming about at random. The dim light only seems to exaggerate their hideous features.

"That," says the Beast Titan as he hauls himself upright, "was a rather dirty trick now wasn't it?"

'All's fair in love and war,' I reply inside my head. 'And I'm pretty sure you know what this is!'

 _"Actually, I wouldn't really call this a war. More like, preventative measures. It really is for your own good you know."_

'How can devouring us be for our own good?'

 _"An unfortunate level of collateral damage I assure you. My master has only the very best of intentions."_

'Yeah well, I'm not a great believer in the ends justifying the means.'

 _"So I suppose this means we're going to have to fight does it? How very inconvenient. I had hoped to bring you with me undamaged."_

'I'm not the one you should be worrying about right now.'

 _"Confident aren't you? All right then, let's get this over with."_ The Beast Titan lets out a deep booming howl, louder than anything I've heard before, excepting only the Female Titan's summoning roar. He charges forwards with incredible speed despite his disproportionate stature and slams into me with his right shoulder. I find myself catapulted high into the air, spinning backwards end over end three times before crashing down inside of a lake.

The water is freezing cold and all but the faintest amount of light is snatched away from me. Despite my huge size as a titan, this lake is still more than twenty five metres deep. I can't drown but the feeling of water rushing into and filling your lungs isn't exactly pleasant. Every instinct is telling me that I'm dying, and I can't stop myself from panicking a little. As I touch the bottom of the lake bed I manage to get a hold of myself. The water feels strange to move through as I climb to my feet. I bunch my legs and push off as hard as I can, sending myself rocketing out of the water.

I land on the shore with a wet thud. I vomit huge amounts of water out into the grass as I lie there, gasping involuntarily for air that I don't need. With a growl I climb back to my feet. 'He's so strong! That charge must have knocked me back over a hundred meters!' I can see the Beast Titan coming after me, his figure now much smaller due to its distance. 'If he can do that, how on earth can I fight him?' I shake myself inside. 'Doesn't matter, I have to fight him. Beating him even temporarily is my only way out of this.'

I straighten my stance and raise both hands in fists. The Beast Titan comes to within twenty metres of me, then drops down onto all fours. His long arms prop him up so high that his head is nearly level with mine. He lumbers forwards rapidly and I dodge to the right, kicking at him as he passes by. The blow seems to have very little effect as he turns to face me and continue his charge. Trying a new tack I run directly at him and jump over his head. Landing behind him I bring both fists together and strike him directly in the back as he comes to a stop.

He grunts loudly in pain and falls forwards onto his face. His immense momentum allows him to strike incredibly strong blows, but it also means that he can't turn around quickly. As the Beast Titan clambers back to his feet I take a swing at his head. He ducks the blow and uppercuts me, sending me flying seven metres into the air then down onto my back. I clench my teeth together as blood and steam pour from between by jaws.

The Beast Titan straightens himself, standing at his full seventeen metre tall height. I scramble hastily to my feet to face him again. The two hits I've taken have already taken a sever toll on me and yet he seems to have completely ignored the blows I've managed to land. 'This is bad.' I run forwards and stop short just before reaching him, jumping to the left and lashing out at his knee with my foot.

The blow strikes him from behind and causes him to fall forwards. In an effort to seize the opportunity I smash my right fist into his head. It sends him sprawling flat with steam rising from his face. 'Enough's enough. I can't win this fight so I'm going to have to run.' I turn and begin to sprint away towards the forest I saw earlier. I don't know which way is north or which way is south all I know is that I have to get away.

Just before I reach the trees though, the Beast Titan's voice booms in my head. _"ENOUGH!"_ I fall forwards onto my knees, both hands clasped to my temples. _"It may not be as strong as that of our dear friend the coordinate, but my voice of command is sufficient to subdue you."_ I can't move a muscle. My entire body has locked up.

'H, how are you doing this?'

 _"A gift from the one whom I serve. Now, you're going to wait right there until I arrive. Then I can tear you out of the nape and we can resume our course."_

'No! I won't be controlled by you!'

 _"I'm afraid you have very little choice in the matter."_

It feels like he's right. It's almost as if my body doesn't want to obey me. I try to probe into the titan's mind in an effort to win it back under my command again. Quite unexpectedly I find myself in my normal body in a totally black vista. In front of me is the titan that I saw over a week ago during the 57th Recon Mission. At the time I assumed he was a hallucination brought on by my injuries, now it seems that he is in fact the titan body that I control.

He's hunched over, his entire body shaking. Blood is dripping from his face. "Hey you," I call out. "Why are you listening to him? You're supposed be my titan not his."

The titan snaps up its face and looks at me. I let out a slight gasp as I see its head. The skin seems to be in a constant state of repair and destruction, the blood vessels below its surface being covered and then exposed again and again. This is prompting an almost constant stream of blood to flow from every piece of skin. "He, has, authority," it chokes out.

"Well so do I! You are me aren't you? So do what I tell you!"

"Not, so, simple, as, that."

"Why not?"

"Titans, not a separate being, can't do anything, without, a human. Need, you, to, release us!"

"But, but I can't do that. If I give up control what's to stop him from taking me over entirely?"

"Give, us, orders. We follow, them, till, they are, finished."

"Just like when Eren transformed and lost control," I muse out loud. "His titan kept focusing on one specific task. The first time it was killing titans and the second time it was defeating the Female Titan. But how do I know I can trust you?"

The titan wretches up a torrent of blood which spatters all over the black ground and dissolves into steam. "Do, you lie, to yourself?"

"You're not me. You're something put into me."

"You, choose, that. We, are, freedom! Be, free!"

"Dam it!"

Suddenly I'm back in the real world. I can hear the Beast Titan's footsteps far away behind me. 'I have to act now. I can either let him take me, or release the titan and tell it to run. But what if I can't get back control again?' The footsteps are drawing steadily closer and closer. My time is almost up. 'Curses! All right, you have the reigns for now. Just get us out of here!'

I slacken control. It's like relaxing every part of your body at once. All your functions seem to shut down and you start feel like you're drifting away. As soon as I release control I can feel an animalistic presence surge into being from inside of me. The titan body pushes itself to its feet, shaking at first. _"What? What have you done?"_ I hear the Beast Titan's voice echo. I try to reply but I can't do anything. I can barely think clearly. There's a great weight crushing down on me.

'Let go!' snarls the titan inside of me. 'Be free!' The titan is already running into the forest, slipping low between the trees to hide itself from the Beast Titan outside. The pressure continues to build and finally, my mind buckles. I fall back into a black abyss, where time doesn't seem to exist and there is no sound, no sight, nothing.


	7. The Breach Part 3

Chapter 5: The Breach Part 3: False Alarm

When things start to come back to me, they do so in wild flashes. Trees, grass, the night sky with stars spread over it. Then I can feel myself stumbling and I fall face first into the ground. The impact sends chunks of earth flying into the air. Spitting out grass and dirt I pull myself to my feet. I'm still in titan form, but dear god do I feel tired. I look up at the sky. It's a pale blue, growing steadily paler as the first rays of the sun appear from over the wall off to my left. 'I ran all night? No wonder I feel tired. The sun is rising to my left and I can see the wall curving away ahead of me, so I must be far south.'

I'm the edges of a forest (I can't tell if it's the same one I entered hours ago) where there are a handful of trees scattered sparsely over the ground. Then my hearing comes back properly and I hear people shouting. I turn to follow the sound. Just on the other side of an arm of the forest I've just exited is what looks like the top of a tower of some kind. There's a group of five people crowed on the top. It's one of them that's shouting, but at what I can't tell. Then I see the giant hand clawing up the side of the tower.

I start moving, sluggishly at first but I manage to find a hidden reserve of energy inside me somewhere. 'When I'm out of this titan I'm going to sleep for a month.' I smash my way through and come out into the open. Three ten metres are attempting to reach the top of the tower by climbing up it-though at this rate they're more likely to pull it over-and six smaller titans are milling about in the courtyard of what looks like a small castle.

My eyes widen as I recognise the five people on top of the tower. Reiner, Bertolt, Ymir Connie and Historia. They must have gotten cornered here during the night. I draw myself up and let out a roar. The three ten metres pause and turn their heads to look at me. The others on the tower turn to look at me also. 'All right then. I haven't actually fought regular titans as a titan myself yet, but from what Eren said it shouldn't be too difficult.'

I run towards the castle, jumping the low wall that stands in my way and landing in the courtyard with a crash. I grab one of the ten metres from behind and rip out his nape before throwing his lifeless body to the ground. Two of the smaller titans leap onto and bite into my left leg. With a howl of pain I rip them both off and smash their heads together. I then proceed to hurl them both at the ten metres, knocking them both over.

I kick a four metre into the air, my foot going clean through him and more or less vaporising the back of his neck. The smaller titans flock towards me and I crush each of them in turn with savage kicks. After two minutes there's nothing but smoking bodies the castle courtyard. I turn to look at the others who are still staring at me in amazement.

With the fight over, I suddenly feel a wave of exhaustion washing over me. I stagger several times before falling forwards onto my face.

I regain consciousness as someone pulls me from the steaming hot remains of my titan corpse. I can't see anything clearly. I can feel a pair of strong arms wrapped around me, but that's all. Then voices talking, all muffled as if behind closed doors. In my daze I can't even move my own body, being forced to let my arms hang limply by my sides.

I'm being laid down on the ground and there's a blurry outline of a face over me. The sky behind them looks blue with the usual white splodges of clouds. I try to speak, but I can't even move my lips I'm so tired. Everything in front of me blurs further, and then I simply close my eyes.

Then someone wraps their arms around me, and I can hear somebody crying. 'What are they crying about I wonder. Did, did someone die?' My thoughts are all loose and disconnected. 'Who, who might have died? Do I know anybody? Hmm, I can't seem to remember. Oh well.' I let myself slip into a comfortable sleep.

I come back to the world again lying on the back of a wagon. This time I can move, I just don't want to. My arms feel like leaden weights next to me and my legs don't feel any better. I move my head from left to right trying to see what's about me. There isn't much, a few boxes on either side of me and some blankets. Nothing else.

I yawn and decide to try and sit up. I'm successful the first time, however I manage to prop myself up on my elbow the second time. The wagon isn't moving. It's sitting just next to a large tent with people milling about it. Someone is sitting on the edge of the wagon and they turn around as I sit up. I'm surprised to see Connie looking at me curiously. "Oh hey, you're awake again," he observes.

"More or less," I agree, sitting up properly and rubbing my eyes.

"You've been asleep for the last three hours."

"Only three? No wonder I'm so tired. I felt like I'd need to sleep for at least forty eight."

"Well, you haven't, but I dare say you probably can now."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Surprising as it may sound, there's no breach."

"What?"

"You heard me. Multiple patrols went up and down the Wall during the night and another one this morning. There's no holes in the Wall anywhere. As far as we can tell it was a false alarm."

"Then, then where did all of the titans come from?"

"No clue. Soldiers have been patrolling around for the last few hours cutting the last titans down. When they're finished as far as we can see everyone should be able to come back home again."

"That's great news. But, but what about the Beast! Where did he go?!"

"Hey man calm down!" exclaims Connie putting his hands on my shoulders. "If you're talking about the giant monkey guy, he took off a little while before dawn. We saw him on top of the Wall from the tower. He chucked a few large rocks at us, then disappeared."

"Oh thank god! Is everyone all right? How many people did we lose?"

"Not all that many. Six Scouts and around ten Garrison soldiers. Oh, and by the way I meant to say thanks."

"What for?"

"For showing up like that and saving our asses. I was sure we were totally screwed."

"Oh, that. That was more by accident than by design I'm afraid. It's a long story but I spent the night without any control over my titan form and when I regained control that's where I was."

"Well, I don't care how you got there. You saved all our lives and we owe you one."

"Don't worry about it. Considering our line of work I'm sure you'll be able to find an opportunity to pay me back."

Connie smiles and slips off the wagon. "I'm gonna go get the guys. They'll want to see you now that you're awake again."

"All right," I say. I watch as Connie rushes off into the tent. 'If there was no breach, then how can there have been titans inside the Walls. Connie said that the Beast Titan climbed up and over the Wall, so that could explain how he got in. But what about the other titans, they couldn't climb up the Wall. He said something about being a Geshetar as if it was similar to being a murder or a thief. So, what exactly did he do?'

My train of thought is derailed as Connie comes back out of the tent followed by Eren, Armin, Mikasa and Historia. Historia hurries out ahead of the others and more or less jumps into the back of the wagon. She throws her arms around me and I nearly fall over backwards. "Gah! Careful," I caution her.

"Sorry," she says sheepishly. "It's just so good to see you. You saved our lives back there, thank you so much."

"What were you expecting me to do; let you get eaten by the Titans? I'll die before I let that happen."

Historia smiles at me as the others climb up more slowly into the back of the wagon. "Hey," says Eren. "We wondered if you were ever going to wake up."

"I almost wish I hadn't. I've got the worst headache ever. I feel like my head's being stepped on by the Colossal." I rub my forehead to illustrate the point. My head does feel like it's on fire, but I expect that's just the after effect of spending so much time as a titan without any rest. "So what happened to you guys?"

"Not all that much," says Armin. "There was one rather large battle a few kilometres north from here. We lost eight soldiers during the fighting, but we managed to bring down six titans during the combat."

"And I earned my first true kill as a Scout," adds Eren. "In fact I think that must be my first kill on ODMs full stop."

"And you almost got yourself killed doing it," says Mikasa. "You went out ahead of the rest of the squad and got separated. If you'd timed that any sooner you'd be dead."

"But I didn't okay. Get off my back about it already. Jeez."

"Umm, one other thing happened," says Historia. She looks at me with something in her eyes that looks like a cross between worry about someone else and worry about herself. "I uh, told everyone my real name."

I look at her in shock. "Wait, really?"

"Yes. Now everyone knows me as Historia Reiss."

"But, why did you do that? I mean, it's your name so I suppose it isn't really any of my business."

"No, I'll tell you. It's because I'm sick and tired of lying and being some who I'm not. Last night up in the tower I decided that Krista Lenz was a role I was sick of playing. So, I told everybody who I was."

"I see. I'm not really sure what to say."

"Neither were we," says Armin. "But, actually, we should probably have seen this coming."

"What do you mean?" I ask surprised.

"You remember the Wall Cult pastor we brought down with us. Well, he still refuses to tell us anything, but after seeing what the situation was like for the people in Trost he said that there was a girl from the 104th who was from one of the old families. He said that she might know something about the Walls that we didn't know."

"Unfortunately," says Historia, "I'm as much in the dark as anybody. Besides, it's not like my father would have ever told his greatest embarrassment anything important," she adds with a snort of disgust.

I sigh. "So after all that we're back to square one?"

"Pretty much," says Eren gloomily.

"Not entirely," says Armin. "Matthias, do you remember what we said about how we might find the traitors on the wagon ride out here?"

"Yeah, we thought they might have had some kind of attack like Eren and I did."

"Well, I've been asking around very carefully, and guess which two rookies had synchronised headaches and dizzy spells?"

"Who? Who are they?"

Armin looks at me very gravely. "You're not going to like this but, it was Reiner and Bertolt."


	8. The Armoured Titan Part 1

Chapter 6: The Armoured Titan Part 1: Traitors

Everything is filled with a churning, roiling mass of steam. The heat is so intense that I can only just barely retain consciousness. I find myself trying to gasp for air that won't come and I stagger and fall. Finally the huge gush of vapour subsides and I look up. The sixty metre tall goliath stares down at me, its shadow blotting out the sun.

Twenty minutes earlier I was still recovering from my night's ordeal. Despite Armin's grim news, I couldn't keep awake for much longer and slept again until sixteen hundred hours. All of the soldiers in the area have been attempting to reorganise and word has been sent out that Wall Rose is in fact not breached. It is expected that the evacuees will be able to begin to return as early as the next day. Ironically the main work load for the military is dismantling all of the defences that had to be set up in such a hurry the day before.

With no titans inside the Walls the mood has calmed considerably. Most people are still finding things to do. Filling in half dug ditches, reloading supplies that were unloaded only that morning and deconstructing forward outposts that never saw service. No one's particularly irritated though. The fear of an actual breach to Wall Rose was so great that the news of its integrity overwhelms all negative feelings about manual labour. Well, almost all of them.

Most of the Military Police are still standing around doing nothing, even though there are now three squads of soldiers here. It's pleasing to see that some of them helping out. I suppose even the MPs must have some decent people in their ranks.

The sun is still high in the summer sky so I decide to try and help out where I can. I'm a little disappointed when I'm told not to exert myself by working. I feel almost fully recovered by this point. Still, orders are orders I suppose.

I sit on a rock and watch as some Garrison soldiers pack away one of the larger tents. 'I certainly hope we're wrong. I've always respected Reiner so much! He's one of the bravest people I know, even if he isn't the most intelligent. Bertolt has always been the quiet type. He almost never says anything he doesn't have to say. But he's always been kind towards everyone else, and he showed that he was brave during the Battle of Trost and 57th Recon Mission.

'But, we've got more on them than just a stress attack. According to records both Reiner and Bertolt are from the same village as Annie, so that's suspicion enough. On top of that both of them had copies of the plan where Eren was in the right wing, which was where the Female Titan attacked looking for him. Then there's the fact that the Female Titan suddenly seemed to know to change her course to make for the centre rank. Reiner was the one that asked about Eren's actual location, even though looking back on it, it would have been better not to know. And Reiner should have known that. If a higher up keeps something from you, it's probably for a good reason. Reiner's principles as a soldier should have dictated that he not ask that question.

'Furthermore, Reiner would have had no chance of cutting his way out of the Female Titan's hands after being grabbed. Also, the time between the initial blood spurt and Reiner's escape was too long. Armin thinks that Reiner used that moment to carve a brief message into the Female Titan's hand, which would explain why she sat staring at it for several seconds before moving on. It all adds up in the end but, I don't want it to be true. Annie was easier to deal with I guess because not only did she in some ways run out on us by choosing the MPs over the Scouts, she was never a particularly good friend to any of us. Reiner and Bertolt are a different story.'

Angrily I pick up a stone and squeeze it as hard as I can in my hands before hurling it into the dirt. I feel a slight stinging and realise that I was stupid enough to cut my hand open. As I look down at the red line, a thin trail of white vapour rises from the wound and it vanishes. The sight just pisses me off all the more. I sit there fuming inside at how cruel fate is to have put anyone in this kind of a situation. But then I stop myself from thinking like that. Fate seems too much like a way to say God, and there's no point blaming God.

To me it seems pointless to only acknowledge him when you want to either blame him for something, or barter for your life. So often people try to call out to a god they don't believe exists just because they want someone to shove all their troubles on. I'm not going to be that kind of a hypocrite. I'm not sure if there is a god or not, but I find myself hoping there is, because the idea of death being the cut off point when you're in my line of work is terrifying.

I shake my head and try not to think about it. I always screw myself over when I think philosophically. I let out a long groan and slide down off the rock so that my back is resting against its base. "Why, why them?" I ask nobody in particular.

"Why who?" asks a deep voice from behind me. I look up to see Reiner looking down at me.

'Well speak of the devil I suppose.' "Nothing, just talking out loud," I reply, not looking up from the ground. I'm not sure I can look him in the eye.

"You got something on your mind?" he asks, sitting down next to me.

'Oh well, I guess this is typical of what he would do. He always was interested in how other people were doing.' "Ah," I say, throwing another stone. "It's just, the whole idea of there being one traitor in the 104th was bad enough. Now we're more or less certain there has to be two."

"What makes you guys so sure?"

"We know it was Annie who killed Hange's test subjects. We also know that she had a lookout to warn her about the guards. On top of that we know that she also had to get some inside information from someone in the Scouts in order to have known where to try to hunt down Eren from during the Recon Mission."

"That doesn't mean it has to be one of us," says Reiner. His voice sounds concerned, but not as such for himself.

'I suppose he doesn't think we know. Or at least he hopes we don't.' "No it doesn't. There's one more thing though. When we were first admitted into the Scouts I had my first mental connection to someone. They said that they only had to stay in the Regiment for one month and then it would all be over. In one month the Female Titan attacked. The only other people there who weren't part of the 104th are dead now. It has to have been one of us."

"Could you recognise who?"

"No, the voice sounded really far away. All I could get was that it was almost certainly male. Besides, most people sound slightly different inside their heads, so that just makes it all the more difficult."

Reiner falls silent for a little while. "I guess the idea does stink huh? I mean, we've been together as a group for over three years now. It's pretty hard to imagine someone turning their back on that."

I nod in agreement and idly draw one of my blades, pointing it up at the sky. "You know Reiner. I don't think we ever actually heard the name of the village you and Bertolt came from. What was it?"

"Schlangenzunge. It wasn't a very big place but it was home."

"You know I think I might know what that name means actually."

"Oh really, in the old language you mean."

"Yeah, I learnt a bit during training. It means the snake's tongue."

"Heh, not particularly flattering is it?"

"No. It's ironic though; they always used to associate snakes with liars." Reiner stiffens slightly at that.

"Reiner," I say, almost idly after about thirty seconds, "why?"

"Why what?" he asks, his voice now extremely heavy.

"Why'd you and Bertolt betray us? Who are you guys anyway?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I think you might have a touch of the sun there Matthias."

"Don't play dumb with me please. I know you and Bertolt had a negative reaction at the same time at about nineteen hundred hours yesterday. That's at exactly the same time Eren and I did. Only titan shifters reacted to that, no one else. We have plenty of other stuff on you guys as well, and you just proved to me only a few seconds ago that you lied about where you came from. I suppose you just picked the name of some backwater village and expected no one to have come from there. Now, can you answer my question please?"

Reiner's shoulders slump and he looks at the ground. "Fine," he says in a very different tone of voice to the one I'm used to, "You want to know who I am? I'm the Armoured Titan that broke through Wall Maria. Bertolt's the Colossal that kicked in the Gate of Shiganshina."

I sit up and look at him cross legged. I don't know why, but I feel perfectly calm and at ease. "Why? Why would do that? Didn't you realise the number of people and lives that would be destroyed as a consequence?"

"We thought we did. We thought we knew exactly what the cost was and that it was a price worth paying. Ever since that day I've asked myself if I was right. I can't begin to tell you how glad I was when the attack on Trost was called off. I happy I wouldn't have to do it again for at least a few more days. I'd get to live this life for just a little bit longer."

"You'd rather be who you were as a soldier than who you were as a traitor?"

"A big part of me would yeah. Not that matters now." He looks up at me, his eyes hard. "So, how do you want to do this? You know what comes next don't you."

"You and Bertolt attempt to kidnap me and Eren and make a break for it. You take us both over the Wall and through the titan fields until you find whoever it is our real enemy is here. Then you hand us over to them."

"Right. So, are you coming?"

"You know I can't do that Reiner."

"I know. I guess it's the hard way huh?"

"That's your choice in the end. You could always surrender."

"Why would I? I'm a mass murder; the only fate I have with Humanity now is the gallows."

"I see. Then I'm sorry." Before Reiner can move a muscle I lash out with the blade in my hand. The steel tool slices through his throat and Reiner falls forwards, choking on his own blood. I put the tip of the blade under his chin. "You'll heal from that, but move again and I'll run this through your skull."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that Matthias," says Bertolt. I look up in time to see him swing a wooden plank into my head. For several seconds everything is black. Then light floods back into my eyes and I find myself lying on the grass with Reiner and Bertolt standing over me.

"I figured this was going to happen sooner or later," Bertolt is saying to Reiner. "He should never have just gone and done it without giving us a heads up first. We weren't ready for that."

"At least we can still salvage the situation," replies Reiner. "If we can get the Sacrifice and the Coordinate over the Wall then none of this matter anyway."

Bertolt looks down at me. "Reiner, he's awake."

"All right then. It's time to go." Reiner bites down on his hand before vanishing in a plume of yellow light. As it dissipates the last strands of muscle pull themselves into place, and the large bone like plates of armour form over the exposed red. The Armoured Titan looms over me, sixteen metres tall with burning yellow eyes. He reaches down and lifts me up from the ground. I'm only half conscious so I don't struggle. Bertolt grabs onto the Armoured Titan's arm as it goes back up into the air, riding it up to the top before sliding into a nook in the armour plates around the neck. It almost looks like it was put there specifically for him.

All around us I can hear confused shouts and cries from below. The soldiers are panicking no doubt at the new titan's sudden appearance amongst them. The Armoured Titan sets off at a run, heavy feet pounding over the grass. I manage to twist my head around in time to see him plough straight through a single story house. It shouldn't tale him more than a minute to reach the Wall, and then only another minute to climb it. After that they're both home free.

'But what about Eren? Don't they need him as well?' My question is answered by a bright flash of lightning off to the right. 'Oh, they knew he'd do that didn't they?'

The Berserker comes tearing out of the faint wisp of fog, eyes burning like some monster out of hell. _"Reiner!"_ I hear Eren howl. _"You dam traitor!"_ Without missing a beat the Armoured Titan spins on the spot and smashes into Eren's head with a punch so powerful it cracks apart his skull on impact. The Berserker Titan flies backwards, landing heavily.

 _"Sorry about this Eren,"_ rumbles the deep voice of Reiner. _"But right now you're the only real way out of this mess for us."_ He strides forwards towards the battered titan form. Steam pours from its head in a massive torrent and it sits unmoving against a large pine tree. The Armoured Titan leans forwards to rip away the nape.

"To hell with you Reiner!" I scream biting down into my tongue as before with the Beast Titan. Just like last time my titan form erupts into being sending the Armoured Titan sprawling.

 _"Ah, what the hell?"_

'Eren,' I growl at him with as much focus as I can. 'Eren you need to get up.'

 _"I'm trying dam it! This worthless piece of trash won't move!"_ he snaps back.

'Great, now I have to fight Reiner alone.' I take several steps back and bend my knees slightly. When were training I managed to beat Reiner a few times, but most of the time his greater strength allowed him to win out. Now he has armour as strong as the Female Titan's nape over his entire body. My chances aren't that good.

The Armoured Titan climbs back to his feet and looks at me. _"I know you can hear me Matthias,"_ says Reiner. _"Back down and take this the painless way."_

'Reiner, I'm sorry you made choices that perhaps you didn't understand, and now those choices have put you in a difficult position. But you still killed all those people, including Eren's mom. You can just go back to whatever disgusting shit hole your crawled out of and die as far as I'm concerned now.'

 _"If that's how this is going to be then."_ He charges forwards with incredible speed I can't react. The kind of speed the Armoured Titan has makes the Female Titan looks like a slug. I fly backwards and smash into the ground, bouncing back up into the air and then crashing back down again. Ever last tissue in my body hurts after that, and I can see the steam coming off of me in huge clouds. I slowly push myself back to my feet, my entire body shaking. 'Ow,' is pretty much all I can think.

The Armoured Titan stands up straight again and gets ready to charge for the second time. 'If he hits me like that again this fight is over before it begins. I wish hand to hand combat had been more my specialty.' I throw myself to the side as the Armoured Titan flies past me, pulverising another lone building into dust. I scramble to my feet and try to think of some kind of way I can fight back.

I try to think back to our training on unarmed fighting. "If your opponent is stronger than you, do not try to match their strength. Use it against them." 'Wait, I don't remember that. I mean, I remember stuff like it but I don't remember anyone saying that. Come to think of it I don't recognise the voice either. Oh well, it makes sense so for now that's all I need to know.'

The Armoured Titan turns to face me again. He sprints at me again, his attack lower speed this time with more control to it. At the last second I jump out of the way and kick him in the back of the knee. His own momentum carries the Armoured Titan into the ground with massive force. I wince inwardly at the sound of cracking bones. 'I wonder how Bertolt is enjoying the ride.' I can't hear Bertolt's thoughts yet since he's able to shield them from me out of titan form, but I can imagine he's not having the best ride of all time right now.

 _"That, was good,"_ admits Reiner a little grudgingly. _"But you can't keep that up forever you know."_

'I don't need to.' A defining roar adds emphasis to may statement as the Berserker-now fully healed-tears across the open ground towards us.

 _"Dam it!"_ The Armoured Titan jumps back as the Berserker Titan almost crashes into him. The Berserker pulls up and spins around. I notice in surprise that the large plate covering the Armoured Titan's mouth has slide down to reveal his teeth. "Bertolt," I hear him growl. A second later and I see a human figure climbing out of its nook in the Armoured Titan's neck and jumping into the air.

'Eren it's Bertolt, he's going to-

I'm cut off by a blast of yellow lightning so massive I can't see a thing for the next thirty seconds. Then everything is filled with a churning, roiling mass of steam. The heat is so intense that I can only just barely retain consciousness. I find myself trying to gasp for air that won't come and I stagger and fall. Finally the huge gush of vapour subsides and I look up. The sixty metre tall goliath stares down at me, its shadow blotting out the sun.

 _"Son of a bitch!"_ I hear Eren hiss.


	9. The Armoured Titan Part 2

Chapter 7: The Armoured Titan Part 2: Clash of the Titans

'What, what do we do?'

 _"I don't know!"_

The two of us stare up at the gigantic figure of the Colossal Titan. Even though Eren and I are fifteen metres tall in our titan forms, which is almost ten times the size of an ordinary human, we don't even come up to Bertolt's knee when he's in titan form. The Armoured Titan steps forwards and rolls his neck from side to side, cracking it. _"Now then, where were we?"_ asks Reiner grimly.

He runs forwards at full speed and I only just manage to jump out of the way. As he stops to turn and face me, the Berserker Titan leaps onto the Armoured Titan's back, wrapping his arms his neck in an effort to restrain him. I know I ought to take this opportunity to attack, but I'm not sure how or where. The Armoured Titan's body is protected all over by slabs of Titan Stone that are totally impenetrable to any force I can exert.

I rush forwards and punch him the throat which thankfully is unarmoured. That sends blood shooting out the Armoured Titan's mouth and steam hisses out between his clenched teeth. Grabbing the Berserker Titan, the Armoured Titan throws him into me and the two of us slam into the ground. Steam still rising from his jaw, the Armoured Titan locks his face plate back into position.

The Berserker and I scramble back to our feet. 'Certain parts of him are unarmoured. If we can strike at those we may be able to bring him down.'

 _"His nape is still armoured,"_ Eren points out.

'We'll just have to take our hits where we can okay? Any gap we spot we need exploit it.'

 _"What about Bertolt?"_

I look up at the source of the giant shadow. To my surprise he doesn't really seem to be doing anything. Then I see several small dark pinpricks attached by wires swinging around him from his shoulder. As the soldiers draw close to his nape, the Colossal Titan releases a huge burst of steam, sending the attackers flying backwards. 'I think he's just trying to keep the soldiers out of the fight. It isn't safe to ignore such a large target so as long as he's close by they have to combat him first.'

The Armoured Titan charges again, this time with speed more becoming a normal individual. He swings at me and I jump into the air above him. I flip once and land evenly facing his back. He turns to face me, but as he does the Berserker Titan throws himself forwards smashing him across the back of the head. That sends the Armoured Titan staggering forwards, but turns the Berserker's hand into a cloud of vapour. As the Armoured Titan staggers forwards I bring both hands together and smash them into his chest.

That more or less breaks both my arms, but it sends him flying head over heels two times. He lands with a huge crash due to his massive weight, sending up a substantial dust cloud. The combination worked, the only problem is that I can't use either of my arms and the Berserker Titan doesn't even have a right hand. The Armoured Titan climbs back to his feet, seemingly unhurt and attacks again. This time all I can do is dodge the attack and keep dodging as I wait for my arms to heal.

The Berserker is able to move in before then however, kicking the Armoured Titan's right leg out from under him. The Armoured Titan spins and punches him in the chest. That sends him forty or so metres backwards and leaves him with a shattered rib cage. Hurriedly I look over the structure of plates on the Armoured Titan's back before leaping onto him. I pick a spot on his right shoulder and sink my teeth in between the joints. The taste of blood inside my mouth is disgusting, but bizarrely satisfying. I've finally done some damage.

Seizing me with the other arm the Armoured Titan throws me into the ground with enough force to dislocate my spine. Before he can deal further damage though, the Berserker is back on top of him, clawing at his eyes. I roll out of the way as I wait for my back to heal sufficiently for me to be able to stand.

I heave myself back up onto my legs again. The Armoured Titan throws the Berserker off wildly as steam pours from his now empty eye sockets. The Berserker lands and lets out a howl of triumph. _"Dam you Eren!"_

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Berserker and I rush in. I duck under the Armoured Titan's wild swing and slide through his legs. Turning I clamp my teeth into the exposed flesh of his knee joint. Blood rushes into my mouth as he staggers and falls forwards. The Berserker is on top of his back again, this time trying to rip and tear at an open space above the nape. This time the Armoured Titan does not simply throw him off. He grabs him by the head, rips him away and holding him in the air in front of him crushes his skull.

The Berserker Titan goes limp and the Armoured Titan hurls him away. Turning back to me with a single working eye just barely visible through the steam he charges. I try to scramble out of the way but end up being trampled under his feet. Most of my ribcage is crushed into loose pieces and several parts of my torso are ripped clean open.

I lie coughing on my own blood in the sandy earth and try to push myself upright. My limbs simply give out however. Several of my tendons were most likely severed and it feels like I've suffered severe spinal trauma. The Armoured Titan looms over me, a halo of steam still enshrouding his face like some angel from hell. _"Game over Matthias."_

'Stuff you.'

He reaches down and pulls my mangled body up from the ground. I manage to kick out at him, but not with enough force to loosen his grip. He turns me around so that he can get at the nape. I turn my head and keep trying to bite him, with little success. Then there's a dark streak and rush of red blood from the Armoured Titan's shoulder. With a grunt of pain he drops me and his right arm goes limp. A second pass by and I can make out the green of a cloak as the soldier cuts through the Armoured Titan's right leg.

 _"Agh, what the hell?!"_

Captain Levi lands smoothly in one of the few nearby trees that haven't yet been demolished by the brawl. "So you're the Armoured Titan eh?" he asks. "I always wanted to meet you. Let's get properly acquainted shall we?" Leaping off the branch the Captain returns to the attack. Moving faster than the Armoured Titan can react he cuts out his left leg and left shoulder at the joints. With the Armoured Titan totally immobilised he moves back.

"All right Eren, he's all yours from here!"

 _"Right!"_ The Berserker Titan-still smoking from his earlier injuries-returns and grabs hold of the plate covering the Armoured Titan's nape. _"I can't break the plate itself, but I can rip it off!"_ Wedging in his fingers, he begins to do just that. Steam and blood hiss and spray in all directions as the Berserker Titan grunts and growls with the strain. The plate moves slowly, but it moves.

Then there's a huge rush of scolding hot vapour. I go totally blind from the massive blast. It feels like my eyes are burning up in their sockets. The sheer force of the rush is so great that I have trouble standing upright. 'Where the hell is that coming from?' Finally the white veil parts in time for me to see the Armoured Titan hurl the Berserker into the ground.

I move forwards to engage but before I've gone more than four steps I'm seized by a massive hand. The scale of the hand is such that to me it's like a human being picked up by a regular titan. The Colossal Titan lifts me high off to ground and up to equal height with his head. I look down at the ground far below. Even the Walls are around ten or so metres below me. I stare into the ten metre tall face of the Colossal Titan.

The last time I saw this face was when it was looking over the Wall of Shiganshina. The sight brings back all the memories, all the fear, all panic, all the lose. All the anger. I sink my teeth into the joint between his thumb and his hand. Furiously I rip at the red flesh, spitting out chunks of it then going back in for more. It's disgusting, but it's the only way I have of getting free. Out of the corner of my eye I can see his right hand drawing back for a swing. He most likely intends to smash his hand down on me from above and crush my body sufficiently that I become immobile.

Frantically I continue the grizzly task of chewing through the Colossal Titan's thumb. My teeth rip through sinew, tendons, muscle and blood vessels. The human part of me feels like throwing up, but I can tell that the titan is loving this. A shadow falls over me as the Colossal Titan's hand comes down for the crushing blow. The weight of it alone would probably shatter my skull.

Just before the huge hand can impact the joint gives way and I push out from the Colossal Titan's grip. It is at this point that I realise how far I'm going to have to fall. As the two hands smash together above me I plummet fifty five metres to the ground. My spine breaks into what feels like a million pieces and my sense of sight, smell and hearing shut down instantly. My skull must have been shattered and the brain liquefied. Thank goodness it's not actually my body that suffered the hit.

To my amazement I'm able to sit up, and begin groping around over the ground in an effort to get clear of the Colossal's reach. Slowly, my sight begins to come back, along with basic hearing and smell. Everything is a sea of colours that don't make any sense as my eyes make use of under developed lenses. Seeing a large red form which I take to be the Colossal Titan's leg, I hurry forwards so that I'm directly beneath him. His sheer size is of course his advantage, but it's also the very thing that forces him to move so slowly.

Finally after what feels like an eternity (though it's likely been less than two minutes) my vision refocuses and I can look about myself. 'This fight has pretty much ruined me. The amount of healing I've had to do is immense! I only suffered damage like this once in the fight against the Female Titan, and this is the third time I've taken a significant hit. I can't keep getting up like this for much longer.'

The Armoured Titan is charging the Berserker head on. Just as the Armoured Titan is about to impact the Berserker ducks and slides under his centre of gravity. Heavying up from below he sends the Armoured Titan over his head to crash hard onto the ground. I leap forwards and grab the Armoured Titan's right arm, pressing it into his back and more than likely dislocating it. He lets out a howl of pain and tries to grab at me with his left arm.

The Berserker grabs at that and bites into the joint at his shoulder. 'Go for the nape!' The Berserker leaps onto the Armoured Titan's back and begins once again to rip at the plate covering the Armoured Titan's neck. This time he rips it back far enough to expose at least half the weak spot. I feel the Armoured Titan thrashing beneath me and push his arm in harder. The Berserker strikes downwards trying to get at the exposed flesh. 'Game over Reiner!'

 _"Are you sure about that?"_ he grunts back. I look up to see the Colossal's lower body dissolving. To my astonishment and horror the Colossal's arms, torso and head fall forwards; jaws open wide towards the ground. He hits with a massive blast that I can feel burning the flesh from my bones. The pain is intense and I can hear both myself and the Berserker Titan letting out screams of rage and pain. Then, the heat and pain finally overcomes me and I black out.

When I wake up the first thing I feel is pain. Not so much like the pain of receiving an injury, it's more like a really bad ache. It seems to be centred around my elbows and knees. I open my eyes to a familiar looking forest. The massive pine trees tower up, their upmost branches lost in a huge shadowy canopy. I'm sitting with my back to one of the huge trunks. I must be several branches up because I can't see the bottom in my field of vision. My head aches and I put my hand to my forehead.

Then I realise in shock that I can't. My hands along with both of my forearms are missing. The same can be said for my legs below the knee. Steam rising from the stumps helps to allay my fears of being crippled, but that doesn't see of my state of shock. I look at my half arms in a bizarre state of confusion for a few moments.

"Hey Reiner, the sacrifice is awake." I look up to see Bertolt watching me in a tree opposite. He's standing while Reiner is lying down with his back to the tree like I am, and appears to be sleeping. When Bertolt speaks he wakes up though.

"Oh, hey Matty," he says.

"Don't call me that!" I snap.

Reiner pulls a face. "Fine then, no need to get worked up about it."

"What? What's there not to be worked up about? You just kidnapped me and as far I can tell you bit off my arms and legs!"

"They'll grow back," points out Bertolt dryly.

"So what?!"

"Look, we couldn't run the risk of either of you two escaping after you came around. You'd probably just get yourselves killed."

"What do you mean?"

"Take a look," says Reiner glumly, pointing towards the bottom of the trees. I look down to see several titans pawing at the bottom. "They'll eat any of us without a second thought," explain Reiner. "So we're up here for our safety as well as yours'."

"I see. What do mean **we'd** get ourselves killed?" Bertolt nods to the tree behind me. Eren is sitting still unconscious in a similar state to me. 'Oh great. We're outside Wall Rose and in the hands of two titan shifters that are as far as we can tell our superiors in combat. On top of that we've both been effectively rendered helpless. On the other hand, it might be possible to transform and run for it.'

"Don't even think about it," says Reiner. I look up at him surprised. "No I can't hear your thoughts, but I can guess them pretty well. The way you're staring at you're stumps; I can tell you're thinking about transforming and making a break for it. You'd never get a single kilometre before the Titans brought you down. You're too exhausted to fight, even in titan form."

"In fact you'd probably be in an even worse position because of the energy it would take to make the transformation," adds Bertolt.

"So you're waiting to regain your strength as well?"

"Ha! Don't think about trying that either. You two came out of that fight far worse off than we did. I'll admit I'd rather not have to move out just now, but don't get any stupid ideas."

"We're waiting till dark," explains Bertolt. "Since the Titans go to sleep during the night it should make things easy enough."

"Wait, go to sleep? Since when do Titans go to sleep?"

Reiner and Bertolt exchange glances. "He's going to find out everything in a few days anyway," says Reiner with a shrug. "I don't see the harm in telling him this."

Bertolt grunts and turns back to me. "Sleep isn't the right word exactly. They rest anyway. To be honest we don't know a huge amount about the Titans ourselves. Of course there are some things you can't help but know. Or at least you'd think you couldn't help but know," he adds with a look that seems to be a little condescending.

A groan from off to my right stops me from replying. "Where, where am I?" mumbles Eren as he regains consciousness.

"You're not going to like it," I say. Eren looks around him unsteadily. "Try not to move around too much. Your balance is probably a little off."

Eren looks down at his arms, or rather his lack of them. "Wait, what the hell?!" he exclaims. His gaze darts over to Reiner and Bertolt. "You! What the hell do you want with us?"

"Us?" asks Bertolt, "we don't want anything from you. In fact we were perfectly happy with our lives before you guys screwed everything up!"

"Bertolt," says Reiner quietly, "That wasn't his fault you know."

"It was his father!" shouts Bertolt. I realise with shock that there are tears in his eyes. "Think about everything we've been through! If that stupid old man had just kept his nose out of things that didn't concern him none of this would have happened! We'd still be at home and safe and Annie wouldn't be..." his voice trails off and he starts to sob.

"What the hell?" asks Eren in a far quieter voice. "What are you guys talking about?"

Reiner looks at Eren glumly. "Let's just say we didn't choose this life," he replies. "And Bertolt's wrong anyway. It's got nothing to do with your dad when you think about it. It was you," he says, turning to lock his gaze on me.

"What? What did I do?" I gasp.

"You don't remember I suppose. Considering how traumatic the experience must have been it's no surprise you repressed it I guess. I don't know much of the story. All I've been told is that you told the truth. He likes to say that a lot. He admires you for it actually. I can't say I agree with that sentiment to be honest, look at where it's gotten us." He sighs. "Point is, Matthias Quinn, it was something you did that caused all of this to happen. I don't why or how, but you're the reason the Titans exist."


	10. The Armoured Titan Part 3

Chapter 8: The Armoured Titan Part 3: Former Friends

"How can I be responsible for that?!" I exclaim. "Are you lying just for fun or are you trying to mess with our heads?"

"What would be the point in that?" asks Bertolt. His voice has become more level now, the streaks from the tears leaving a pair of shiny lines on his face. "In about two days Eren will probably be dead you'll have forgotten everything."

"We don't that he'll kill Eren," protests Reiner. "He might turn him into a titan; maybe even send him back without his memories."

"Look Reiner, I know you formed a lot of attachments during our time as soldiers, but try not to forget you're not a soldier. You're a warrior. Eren is Yeager, he can't be whipped. It's pretty good fortune for Matthias that he's adopted, or he'd be immune as well."

Reiner looks down between his feet. I can see some sweat pooling on his forehead. "What, what will he do about Mikasa then? Or the Captain for that matter, and how are we going to get Annie out of there? Besides, there are more untouchables within the Walls besides them. They'll remember the breach; they'll know what's going on!"

"He was able to deal with it last time, I'm sure he can deal with it this time. I'd prefer if there was another way but you know there isn't. If we don't this then he'll just send him back in to do it instead. We're immune as well you know. He'd have to kill us both. Plus, you know she'd do it without a second thought. To be honest I'm surprised she hasn't done it already."

"What are you guys talking about?" splutters Eren. "Immune to what? And what are you planning to do to Mikasa?!"

"We're not going to do anything!" shouts Reiner in a sudden outburst. "Don't you get it yet Eren? We're not volunteers okay! We have people counting on us as well. All three of us would have preferred it to be another way, but there's nothing we do about it. If only your father hadn't screwed with the balance of power like that."

"What's my dad got to do with all of this?"

"You don't think it's strange that he's disappeared for the last five years? Or that you suddenly seem to have the ability to transform despite not having any memories or experiences that might explain it? Even Matthias had to remember something before he could do it, you on the other hand just exploded into being."

"I know it was my father who gave me this power, but if you're trying to say he's somehow responsible for this then you can just shut the hell up!"

"I'm not trying to say it I am!"

"Reiner shut up!" snaps Bertolt. "Look, can't we all sit quietly for the next few hours until it's dark? I've got the most splitting headache after that last transformation." He slumps down onto his haunches. "Look guys please, the world is going to be a better place for the sacrifice you're going to make all right? We'll be able to go back to our normal lives and live in peace. Isn't that what you want Eren?"

"If you mean people will live trapped inside the Walls for the rest of their lives then no it isn't!"

"But it would be peaceful. The Titans would leave Wall Maria and all the pain and suffering of the last five years will be forgotten."

"If you think-

"Eren shut up," I snap quickly. "I know you like to get fired up about this but nows not the time. Perhaps you can save your speech for whoever we're going to meet. Bertolt, what do mean the Titans would leave Wall Maria? Why would they do that?"

"Because she'll tell them to of course."

"Who is she?"

"The queen of course Matthias," says Reiner dryly. "Once all of this is sorted out he'll have her set up and she'll be able to have all the Titans leave Wall Maria. Now I agree with Bertolt; some peace and quiet would be nice. Or do we have to gag you guys as well?"

I shake my head. 'But we don't have a queen. There hasn't been a queen on the throne since Millicent the Innocent, and that was before the coming of the Titans! Strange how the family tree of the kings stretches back about a thousand years before the Titans, but nothing else does. Eren?' I ask, concentrating on sending my thoughts his way.

 _"Yes?"_ he replies in a tired voice.

'Do you have any idea why they'd talk about a queen? We don't have one.'

 _"Right now nothing they say seems to make sense. I mean, you being responsible for the Titans? Come on, I know you well enough by now; you'd never do something like that."_

'Maybe. But I can't remember the person that I was. Besides we don't know the circumstances, it might not have even been deliberate.'

 _"You're talking as if we know they're telling the truth. They could just as easily be lying to us."_

'I know but, for some reason I'm certain they are.'

 _"What like intuition?"_

'Not really. They just seem to have a sense of honesty about them I guess.' I sit still for two minutes, then an idea hits me and I sit up a little. 'Eren, think something that isn't try.'

 _"What?"_

'Just do it. I want to test a theory.'

 _"Umm, the sky is green?"_

'Not something stupid. Try to make it believable.'

 _"Armin's name is short for Armillian."_

Immediately I feel a strange sort of bitter taste in my mouth. 'I think it worked. Wait, where'd you get that from?'

 _"Because his name is actually short for something. He made me promise never to tell anyone though."_

'Oh, okay.'

 _"And what do you mean it worked?"_

'I could feel that you were lying. I think it must be part of my abilities or something. I've had feelings like this a few times before now; I just didn't know what to make of them.'

 _"So that means, they are telling the truth?"_

'I'm afraid I'm certain of it.'

A crack echoes from some distance off and makes me look up. "What was that?" asks Bertolt, giving voice to the question we all have. As we watch a thin green smoke trail rises up from the flatlands outside the forest. "They followed us so soon?" gasps Bertolt, looking at Reiner in panic.

"Don't worry about it," says Reiner rising to his feet. "We can still make it back to Shiganshina if we leave now. It'll be rougher, but I can make it. I'm the fastest titan shifter."

"Only over short distances. Annie's the long distance runner."

"I'll manage okay? I'll form several slots to protect you guys from the titans. That should restrain these two as well."

"What if they transform?"

"They'll collapse remember. Just try not to panic Bertolt; we're going to get out of this. Then after it's all over you can go talk to Annie about how you feel."

"Hey come on, it isn't like that."

"Sure it isn't. You stare too much," Reiner turns to look at the two of us. "All right you two, this is going to be easier if you don't struggle, so we'd appreciate that."

"Yeah right!" spits Eren venomously. "like we're going to make life easier for you traitors."

Reiner shrugs. He jumps off the branch and uses his ODM Gear to swing into a large space between the trees. He then bites into his hand, summoning the Armoured Titan in a brilliant flash of light.

The Armoured Titan turns to face the small swarm of titans milling about the base of our trees. The regular titans all turn to face the new arrival. They look at him for a few seconds, then run forwards reaching out their grasping hands towards him. The Armoured Titan calmly begins to dispatch them one by one. He crushes heads, smashes torsos and stomps down hard on the backs of their necks. The whole time I can feel a kind of emotion flowing from him. It's like his thoughts can't form themselves into words so I'm picking up what I can. I'd have expected satisfaction, perhaps disgust or exhilaration, but all I get is a kind of regret.

As the Armoured Titan rips out the last titan's nape and drops the body to the forest floor, Bertolt seizes Eren and using his 3D Gear swings down to where the Armoured Titan is waiting. Eren attempts to struggle, but without any limbs there isn't much he can do. Bertolt deposits him against the Armoured Titan's chest. As I watch the armoured plates behind Eren bend forwards and around him, enshrouding his entire body in a titan stone shell. Bertolt zips quickly back up for me. I don't waste energy struggling like Eren as I'm carried down and then covered in the bone like substance.

There are several gaps in the armour large enough to see out of, presumably so that I can still receive enough air not to suffocate. The space inside is extremely small. I can move my head forwards and backwards slightly but that's about it. 'I can't say much for your accommodations Reiner.'

 _"Shut up and keep quiet. If I screw this up we all end up dead understand?"_

'Or we get rescued.'

 _"That's not going to happen."_

We start off at a run and all of a sudden I'm glad for the tightness of the space. If I had any more room I'd probably be thrown around enough for my bones to break. As it is the sight outside makes me motion sick. We hurtle through to forest rapidly, trees rushing past left and right. I notice that while we're moving fast, we're moving far slower than the Armoured Titan did during the fight. In fact I'd say we're moving at roughly the same speed as the Female Titan did. 'Good, that means horses should be able to catch up to us. I don't like the idea that my fate is out of my own hands, but there's not much I can do about.'

After running for about five minutes we burst out of the forest and into the open. The ground is sparse and flat out here with only field boundaries breaking the smooth lie of the land. 'Eren? Eren?' There's no response. At first I'm about to talk to Reiner, then I think better of it. 'Bertolt, what did you do to Eren?'

 _"Relax. Reiner closed off his air supply for a bit so he fell unconscious. It was easier that way."_

'Why not do the same to me?'

 _"You're not causing us any trouble right now. Besides, if we screwed it up and killed you he'd probably kill us."_

'Who is he?'

 _"You'll know soon enough. Now be quiet."_

'What, you don't want something to take your mind of the bumpy ride?'

 _"Matthias shut up or I will have Reiner suffocate you!"_

'Fine, fine.' I almost laugh at the way in which we've been talking. We've still exchanged words in a friendly way, despite knowing that we're enemies. Of course Eren hasn't, but then again he has more reason to hate these two than most. My thoughts travel back to Trost and Shiganshina, and suddenly I hate Bertolt again. I hate how much death and destruction he's caused Humanity.

I can see what I think are titans on the horizon. It's difficult to see properly through all the bouncing up and down though, so I could be mistaken. After a few more seconds I'm certain however. There's got to be at least six of them, all running towards us. There's likely to be a lot more turning up before all of this is over. From what I can tell Reiner and Bertolt don't have the ability to control titans like the Beast Titan has, so they are potentially a very real danger.

 _"Shit!"_ I hear Reiner hiss. It doesn't seem right for him to be reacting that way to the titans. He should be able to smash his way through them without too much trouble. Then the Armoured Titan increases his pace and I hear above the din of pounding footsteps the zip of a wire. A figure flashes past outside briefly. I can't see who it is, but it looks like the rescue party has caught up.

Suddenly the Armoured Titan changes course, and starts heading directly for the group of titans.


	11. The Armoured Titan Part 4

Chapter 9: The Armoured Titan Part 4: Exposed

A titan throws itself straight at the armour plate protecting me. Even though I know it can't break it I shut my eyes on instinct. The titan smashes its head against the hole, snapping its own neck back and dropping to the ground where it's promptly crushed by the Armoured Titan's pounding feet. The titans are coming on in massive swarms now, dozens and dozens of them. Some have actually clambered onto the Armoured Titan's back and are trying to bite through his armour plating to his flesh. Thankfully it seems that ordinary titans don't have the intelligence to try biting the joints.

My arms and legs have been slowly regrowing, and the only thing left now is my hands and feet. Soldiers dash past regularly, but the situation doesn't seem to change. Here and there a titan is felled by one of them to lie steaming in the grass. They don't seem to be able to figure out where exactly we are, since neither Eren nor I are visible from the outside.

Then suddenly there's a thud outside. "Hey Reiner listen me!"

'Jean?'

"Just stop for a moment okay? We can talk this thing out!"

There's a crash from outside and I can see Jean leaping back away from the Armoured Titan's shoulder where he'd been crouching. "So much for negotiations," I hear him mutter, just loud enough for his voice to carry over the sound of the thunderous footsteps.

"Levi go!" I hear someone call out from behind the Armoured Titan. There's a zipping sound and suddenly the ground is rushing up towards me. I shut my eyes as we impact. I feel the shock through my entire body, though I know the impact's been lessened greatly. The Armoured Titan rolls over, brining the sky back into view again.

'He probably doesn't want to leave his nape vulnerable.' I can see several Scouts moving around, trying to keep their distance whilst knowing that at some point they have to go in. One of them clearly doesn't give a dam about the risk though and pitches straight into the attack. I can't really see what's going on outside properly, all I can hear is the sound of blades cutting through flesh.

 _"Argh! Of course it's you isn't it?"_ I hear Reiner growl. _"You Ackermans have a really nasty tendency to do that sort of thing."_

The Armoured Titan brings a huge fist down against its chest, forcing the attacker to back off. I manage to glimpse Mikasa's face as she leaps out of the way of the swing. Then several regular titans loom over us and quickly more or less leap onto the Armoured Titan, bitting pointlessly at his armoured body. _"Get off me!"_ Kicking and punching he clears the pale humanoid beasts away from him and clambers back to his feet.

Two more titans are felled by a pair of rapid attacks from Captain Levi, leaving the area clear for now. As the Armoured Titan stands up again I get the chance to see behind us. There's got to be at least a hundred soldiers spread out over the flats. Titans are spread out everywhere and there appears to be a full out battle. With the ground being as flat as it is the humans are at a distinct disadvantage. Even as I watch a Garrison soldier is picked up and his upper body ripped off in the titan's jaws.

Before I can see any more we're moving again. This time we don't manage to go far before a dark blur zips around in front of us. I hear the sound of flesh parting and a grunt from outside. _"No!"_ I hear Bertolt scream, his mental guards dropping in panic. _"Reiner do something, we can't afford to lose the coordinate!"_

'Whoever that was must have cut Eren free!' I realise. Everything shakes and I can't make out any clear images. The Armoured Titan seems to be trying to grab at something whilst at the same time cover himself. Then as my view balances out again three more regular titans jump on top of him.

Through a combination of attacks from both the Armoured Titan and the soldiers they're dragged off. There's another blur and a second compartment is sliced open. _"Bertolt!"_ I hear Reiner cry in panic. A massive fist slams against the Armoured Titan's chest so fast that it almost makes him fall over. With the Armoured Titan's attention now focused almost totally on covering Bertolt, the attacker is clear to go for me.

With a strange zipping sound the flesh above my head parts to reveal Captain Levi. He spins in mind air and grabbing me by the scruff of the neck throws the both of us out of the way. He manages to pull off a second shot into the Armoured Titan's leg which allows us to slow our descent enough to make the impact onto the grass safe.

We both roll over several times but despite a few bruises I don't feel seriously hurt. Looking around me wildly I see several dozen soldiers on horses riding around in circles in an effort to keep the ordinary titans preoccupied. "We've got them both now Erwin!" bellows Levi, "It's time to fall back!"

"No!" screams Mikasa. "We should kill the two of them for what they've done!"

"You'll do as you're ordered Ackerman!" spits back Levi.

"The Captain's right," says Commander Erwin ridding up on his white horse, "Those two will receive justice when it's possible for us to provide it. But when that moment comes it will be through the proper system of a court of law." Mikasa clenches her teeth but says nothing. "All hands commence immediate withdrawal!" thunders the Major-General.

I find myself scrambling towards a spare horse, the reigns of which someone hastily throws to me. Scrambling on I start to gallop frantically away from the Armoured Titan. _"No! The coordinate's power cannot go back inside the Walls again!"_ I hear Reiner more or less scream. The next thing I know a huge pink skinned mass crashes down on my right. My horse nearly loses it, but I manage to pull her to the right and keep control.

As I ride past its head, the thrown titan's eyes lock onto me. It rolls over hurriedly and tries to pounce on me as I bolt ahead. It clumsily lands with a boom in the dirt behind me. I look around frantically.

Everything seems to be going to hell right now. The soldiers out here mostly seem to be from the Garrison Regiment and so have very little experience. They've scattered apart in an almost mindless shamble without the faintest trace of a formation visible. It amazes me that they even managed to get a full hour away from the Walls. The Titans are everywhere, and there are more of them than I can remember seeing at any point bar when they were all lured into the one corner at Trost. Even the last time we were in the giant forest and the Female Titan called them in there weren't this many. There's got to be at least a hundred and fifty of them, probably more.

All around me now titans seem to be landing. 'What the hell is Reiner trying to do? Surely Eren's too valuable to risk crushing him like this.' One of the titans lands directly in front of me and I'm forced to pull up. I brake to the right as the titan following me rams headlong into the new arrival.

A third titan-about thirteen metres tall-looms up in front of me. I try to pull to the side again but my horse seems to decide that enough is enough and makes a bolt for it. I desperately try to regain control as the titan swipes down at me with its right hand. Then I realise that I'm still wearing my ODM Gear. Grabbing frantically at the triggers I fire and pull myself out of the saddle just as a massive hand swipes down and crushes my mount.

Whipping around behind the titan I draw a pair of blades and pull myself in towards the nape. My cut strikes true and the titan falls dead to the ground. My landing is however very clumsy. I end up doing a somersault that sends my gear flying off me. The emergency release harness designed to prevent injury to the user in case of a fall is right now by no means doing me any favours.

I scramble to put my Gear back on again as the two titans that are still lying in a heap begin to turn their heads towards me. I fasten the belt back on and draw a new set of blades. A shadow falls over me and I whirl around to see yet another titan grinning stupidly down at me. It reaches out with its huge hand, drool dripping from its jaws at the sight of me.

I slice off its fingers as I roll out of the way. Surprised the titan falls forwards onto its face. I turn to face the titan getting ready to fire my cables again. Suddenly my legs buckle and I fall to the ground. Exhaustion has been sweeping over me and even adrenaline can't keep me running much longer. With a desperate puffing and panting I push myself back up to a standing position and fire off my cables. Once I'm in the air things are a little easier.

I throw myself into the attack but my cut is shallow and wobbly from tiredness. I flip myself back around in mid air to try again, but by this point the titan has turned to try and grab me. I can't move fast enough and I have no choice except to let my wires go. I tumble down and land with an uncomfortable thud on my back. 'I, I have to get up. I have to move. If I stay here it'll get me, I'll die here.'

I try desperately to rise. I don't have any energy left in me though and I sink to my knees. My limbs feel like dead weights and my heart can't seem to beat fast enough to keep up with my body's demands for fresh air. I can't even find the strength to try again as the titan looms over me, little eyes glinting with excitement at the sight of its prey.

It reaches down towards me and I let out a long breath of defeat. I can't fight anymore; I just don't have the strength. I'm done. The weariness in my bones is so great that I can't really find any problems with dying right now. I want to rest so badly. My thoughts stray over my life up until this point. Coming out of the titan in the snow, growing up in Rieskrippe, moving to Shiganshina, meeting Eren, Armin and Mikasa, the Colossal Titan appearing, joining the 104th, the Battle of Trost, the Scout Regiment, my final realisation that I'm a titan shifter, the fight against the Female Titan and last of all the epic struggle of the last two days.

'A clash of the titans wasn't it?' I think to myself with a slight laugh as the large hand closes around me. 'I wonder, I wonder what will happen now. Oh well, I guess I'll never get to find out.' Then, a bright light switches on in my mind and for a split second I can see a little girl running through a field. She feels, important to me somehow, though I can't understand why. Then a man with glasses bending over me with serious eyes. For some reason I feel embarrassed like I'm trouble for something. Then the man's face comes into focus and I let out a slight gasp. His hair is cut shorter than the last time I saw him and he looks a good deal younger with a white frill collar, but I can't mistake the familiar shape of the face of Eren's father: Grisha Yeager.

'How odd. Why should I see him now?' That's all my tired mind can really get out as the titan lifts me up to head height. My vision clears and I see the titan's jaws opening wide. 'Oh well, it doesn't matter now.' A long strand of saliva flicks into my face as the abomination's mouth widens. 'Nothing matters now.'

"NO!" a shrill voice shrieks furiously. The titan jerks, its head twitching slightly to one side as if in confusion. Then it falls forwards to the ground, landing with a rush of dust. The impact jolts me around but I'm so tired I barely notice. In fact, I can barely distinguish the fact that I'm not about to get eaten anymore.

A figure flies down and rushes towards me. They grab me in their arms and as my face turns towards them I can see Historia's beautiful blue eyes. "You're mine do you hear me?" she murmurs. "No stupid titan is going to take you away from me." I can't say anything, I can't even move. I'm just so tired. Historia looks around frantically. "Someone please help us; I can't carry him myself!"

There doesn't seem to be anyone to answer her calls however. I can hear the sounds of battle still echoing around us. "Somebody, please!" calls Historia in desperation.

Then there's a whizzing sound and a tall figure lands behind her. "Get out of the way," says Ymir as she nudges Historia to the side. I briefly lock eyes with her, and something sends a tremor of warning down my spine, but I'm far too exhausted to even recognise it properly. Ymir swings me up and all I can do is hang limply. "You're deceptively heavy for someone you're size aren't you?" I hear her mutter.

Some part of my brain is telling me this is bad, that I need to get away. I'm not really sure why. I turn my head slightly, but all I can take in is more sky. Finally blackness overwhelms me and I slip into the welcoming arms of sleep.

I don't dream, or at least I don't think I do. I'm so heavily worn down that dreaming just wastes precious energy. But I am aware of an intense stinging in my thoughts at one point. I feel like I almost woke up, but didn't quite. There was a voice speaking to me with such authority it felt only natural to do what it told me. "FIGHT!" It roared, "FIGHT! KILL!" I'm not sure if was there for very long or not. I felt like I needed to do what I asked me, except I just didn't have the strength.

Eventually my eyes open again. I'm in what feels like a warm bed, soft sheets wrapping themselves around me. The walls are creamy coloured and give the room a very warm feeling. There's a window in the wall above me to my right. The curtains aren't drawn and a ray of sunlight is filtering into the room. I let out a moan and reach up to rub my eyes. I then stretch and yawn properly. I feel better than I have in a long time. "How long was I asleep?" I ask out loud, not expecting an answer.

"Two and a half days," comes the reply. In surprise I look around to see who spoke. Sitting at the end of my bed is Historia with a smile on her face. Her hair looks rather unkempt but her cheeks are flushed with delight.

"That long huh? No wonder I feel so refreshed."

She reaches out and takes my hand in hers. "Matthias, how much do you remember?"

"I remember you rescuing me if that's what you're asking," reply with a smile. "Thanks for that," I say giving her hand a slight squeeze.

"I owed you didn't I? But, do you remember what I've been saying to you these past two days?"

"No, I've been asleep. What have you been saying?"

"Oh, it's nothing," she says, turning slightly red and looking away.

"All right then." I sit still for several minutes, enjoying the feeling of her hand in mine. Eventually I work up the effort to break the beauty of the moment. "What happened to Reiner and Bertolt?"

"We don't really know. The Armoured Titan eventually gave up and headed for Wall Maria. As far as we know Bertolt was still with him. They probably reached Shiganshina before sundown."

"What about Eren?"

"He's fine. He's been on his feet for the last day or so actually."

"And everyone else, are they all right? How many people did we lose?"

Historia hesitates, "none of us are dead but, forty three soldiers were lost during the battle."

"What?" I put a hand to my head. I can hardly believe that anyone could pay such high sacrifices for only two soldiers, no matter how valuable.

"Also, I believe you used to know one of the men that died. He was a Captain in the Garrison Regiment."

I turn pale and my insides begin to tie themselves in knots. 'No, it couldn't be.'

"His name was Hannes."

I sit still as stone. Hannes the drunkard we always called him. It was something of a favourite topic of Eren's to complain about. He was usually kind enough to us, and I could tell that he felt that we were an integral part of life. I remember meeting him again just before the Battle of Trost. He'd been promoted to Captain four years earlier due to the shortage of men available. He hadn't changed all that much to be honest. He was a little bit more on the serious side to be sure, and unlike in past years he was completely sober. Eren mentioned meeting him again at one point a little while before Reiner and Bertolt transformed.

'Yet another part of the home I was so happy to be a part of is gone. There's so little of it left now, the place itself and so many of the people who lived there are gone. How much longer until no one is left?' Several tears run down my face but that's all. 'Each time it gets harder. Each time I cry less. I suppose there's a point at which you don't cry at all. Is that why Captain Levi and so many of the other veterans are so quiet?'

I sigh. "How much longer do you think until we're all just another few bits of flesh left scattered around for the crows to feed on?"

"Don't say that!" Historia snaps angrily. "I don't care how many people we lose but I am not going to lose you!" She throws her arms around me and kisses me suddenly. At first I feel like breaking away, but then I just let myself rest like that. Everything seems to melt away, falling into insignificance in the background as I rest in her arms.


	12. The Clouds Begin to Gather

Chapter 10: The Clouds Begin to Gather

"There's dangerous movement amongst the brass," says Captain Levi, setting his tea down on the table. "We're not sure what's provoked this sudden reaction, but the MPs are pushing harder than ever to acquire you."

The group is seated around a single long wooden table. The 'New Levi Squad' isn't exactly up to the same standards as the old one. It's actually just those of us who were able to survive from the 104th up until this point. Part of me trembles as I look around to see so few of us. Sasha, Connie, Jean, Armin, Ymir, Historia, Mikasa, Eren and myself. Currently we're posted even further off in the middle of nowhere than the 104th was before, we're high up in the mountains in the northern territory of Wall Rose. We only just moved in here yesterday, though at the time the Captain wouldn't say why.

"What?" asks Eren in confusion. "Why would they not trust us after all of this? And what's changed now exactly?"

"Think about it," says Levi with a meaning sweep of his eyes over everyone assembled at the table.

"Well, Reiner and Bertolt turned out to be traitors," says Armin, "but I fail to see how that implicates Eren and Matthias. If anything it should actually clear the rest of us shouldn't it?"

"I wasn't talking about that," says Levi, lifting his cup to take another sip. "There's something else that's changed; somebody else here just became a far more important item than they were a week ago." I get an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach as he says this. There's only one person here who could have become more important over that space of time.

"It's me isn't it?" asks Historia, her voice dry.

"That doesn't make any sense," protests Jean. "How can Historia's true identity have a bearing on Eren and Matthias?"

"I didn't say it was Eren and Matthias the MPs were after," corrects Levi, "They want her as well."

"What for?" asks Eren.

"We're not really sure about that part. From what we can tell the Riess Dynasty is rather important. It's probable they want to get their hands on Historia so they can shut her up. She's rather a disgrace you know."

"I still don't see what that's got to do with Eren and Matthias," says Connie.

"Neither do we. Someone up top is scared though, terrified might even be nearer to the mark."

"Terrified of what?" I ask.

"We think it might have something to do with what the traitor titans called the coordinate power. As you know during the pursuit Eren was seemingly able to force several titans to protect him and Mikasa."

"I really don't know how I did that though," protests Eren, "we don't know for sure it was me."

"It's the best explanation we currently have," says Armin.

"Also, I think I was able to feel it as well," I add. "It was strange; even though I was asleep it felt like something was trying to call me awake. A voice told me I needed to get up and fight, but I was too tired."

"You weren't so tired that you didn't start thrashing," pipes up Ymir. "You ended up punching me in the face."

"Sorry about that."

"What's frightening about the ability to control titans when the person who has it is on our side?" asks Connie.

"Because Eren isn't on their side," says Historia, before the Captain can speak up again.

"She's right," says Armin darkly, "The higher ups aren't on the side of humanity, they're on their own. If that happens to benefit the whole then that's just a bonus. Right now someone has the power to take control of mankind's greatest enemy, that represents a potential threat to the stability of the realm."

"What, do they think Eren's going to lead a coup or something?" asks Jean in exasperation.

"We're willing to bet that's exactly what they think," says Levi. There's silence at the table after that. Everyone looks rather uncomfortable.

"Are we going to become criminals?" I ask eventually.

"It shouldn't come to that," says Levi.

"It will," says Historia gloomily, "you can bet your life that it will."

"My my, someone's feeling a bit negative," says a voice. We all turn to see Captain Hange standing in the doorway. "Aren't any of you the least bit excited by the idea of being the dashing criminals hiding out from the corrupt government? It's just so romantic!"

"Oh shut up," grumbles Levi.

"First Captain Hange, what are you doing here?" asks Armin.

"Oh, well since we're incurring such opposition, the Commander decided that it would be best for the testing to continue. Especially if Eren has any other abilities that could be useful. Also," she adds with a childish grin, "I always wanted to play the part of the outlaw!"

"We're not outlaws," grunts Levi.

"Not yet. But give a little bit of time of us not handing Eren, Historia and Matthias over and we'll all be donning the green and taking to the woods!"

Even though I can tell she's only half serious, I still feel rather worried about the prospect. 'After everything we're going to be stuck on the run?' "Do we actually have a plan to try and fix all of this?" I ask.

Levi sighs, "As worrying as this is probably going to sound to you brats we don't. At the moment we don't have enough information to take any sort of actual action against the hostile elements of the government. For now the Commander just wants you all to lie low. We're digging, but it's going to take some time to get much."

"So we're just going to hide?" asks Eren, the frustration in his voice painfully evident. His anger hangs around him like a cloud and like always I worry about it exploding.

"Exactly," says Levi coldly. He raises his cup to his lips a takes a long drink. Putting it back down on the wooden surface he gives Eren an icy stare. "You will all be remaining inside of this mountain range until further orders come. Is that clear, Yeager?"

Eren looks just about ready to rip someone's head off. I can practically see the anger radiating off of him. However he swallows hard and mutters, "yes, sir."

"Good. As of now we have no idea who our enemy is, so you trust no one outside of this room besides Commander Erwin as of this moment."

"Also," says Hange, "I think since the Riess are more than likely connected to this in some way that it would be best if Historia could tell us her story in full."

I glare at the first Captain from across the table. I know how Historia doesn't like to talk about that, in fact she's only spoken to me about twice in the entire time I've known her. I don't want her to feel pushed into retelling her story if she doesn't want to. "Oh please," says Levi, cutting through my thoughts, "personal comfort is really of very little importance right now Quinn. How about you just tight and let her decide for herself?" I turn slightly red with frustration and embarrassment that my display was quite so transparent.

"Fine," says Historia, "I'll tell you all about my life. I can't promise a particularly exciting tale though." Her voice has switched back to that tone that frightens me so much. Her voice and eyes become dead and hollow. She loses all real drive and seems like she wants to just drift away into nothingness. It terrifies me to be honest.

"Ever since I was able to think clearly I knew there was something wrong with me. The other children wouldn't play with me, the only people who would speak to me were my grandparents, and even they only did when it was completely necessary. I worked on a small farm and helped to raise the animals as I got older. I always tended to prefer their company to that of people. On the few occasions I tried to talk with the other children I'd be shouted at and have sticks thrown at me.

"I ended up reading a lot in my spare time. I always found it strange how much parents in stories always loved their children, when my mother never even spoke to me. In fact, she tried not to even look directly at me. My father I'd never seen. At one point I thought he might have died, but my grandfather told me to stop being such a fool. I was hit over the head and told not to ask about him again. My mother would often go off in these large carriages, at the time I had no idea where she was going. Looking back on it now I suppose she must have been going to work in my father's house, where she was a maid.

"I couldn't go past the boundaries of the farm. If I did anyone who saw me would chase me right back in and I'd be beaten for it. By the time I was six I'd learnt there was no point. One day I decided in all my childish stupidity, that I'd try and give my mother a hug. I'd read about how kids were meant to do that sort of thing and how parents were supposed to like it. My mother never smiled, so I thought that maybe this would make her happy."

Historia lets out a bitter hiss of disdain at that. "I can't believe I was ever that stupid," she says, shaking her head. "As soon as I touched her she recoiled like I was some kind of poisonous snake. She hit me several times in the head and sent me sprawling. I can remember that I was bleeding, but that I was also happy because for the first time my mother had actually payed attention to me. I suppose small kids have a bit of an addiction to that sort of thing. Then she looked at me with such disgust and bitterness that it took away all the happiness I'd just accumulated. She said, she said that wished she could find the courage to kill me."

I reach out a hand to put on her shoulder, but Historia brushes me away. "Leave me Matthias; I'm fine. After that I never tried getting her attention again. I also stopped believing what I read in books. About a year after that something strange happened. Several men in dark clothes took my mother and grandparents away one day. My grandparents came back but my mother did not. Then I was taken away from the farm and left to live in this small cottage out in the wilderness with a young couple called Schimler. I liked that rather a lot because they were actually kind to me sometimes if I did the right things. They only ever beat me when I really did the wrong thing and didn't seem to get angry if I asked questions. They'd never answer them though.

"Then, five years ago Wall Maria fell. In the middle of the night a group of twenty men in black came and took the Schimlers away. I heard gunshots from the woods not long after that. Then I was taken to a big castle in the interior of Wall Sina. That was when I met my father for the first time. He was a fairly normal looking man except for his clothes which were very expensive. He said that I'd be staying with him now. I did for the next two weeks and I wasn't much fun. I never got to speak to anyone and I was confined to a small set of rooms inside one tower.

"Then my father took me back outside to the courtyard. There was another large group of men dressed in MP uniforms, as well as this large group of people in scarlet robes." I tense up at that. I can remember that during one of my deliriums I saw a woman trying to protect something from of a group of men in robes like that. As far as I could tell she was killed. I doubt that's a coincidence.

"One of the men in robes came over to me and turned my face to the light so that he could see me clearly. After a while he said that I wasn't proper blood. My father told him that while that was true there wasn't another option open at this time. Then the robed man became very angry and shouted at my father that it was all his fault that they'd lost it, whatever 'it' is. My father said that in the end they needed somebody and that I was the only one left after that night." Historia shakes her head, "I'm sorry, but I don't know what to make of that.

"Then, one of MPs asked if my mother was important anymore. My father looked very sad at that, then shook his head and said no. My mother became hysterical and tried to run away, but she was caught and held down. She looked at me and said, 'I wish you'd never been born.' Then they cut her throat and let her bleed out on the cobbles. As you can imagine I was terrified. My father told me that I was going to have to be someone else now and that he'd come and get me when it was time. He told me to be Krista Lenz and to join the cadets as soon as I was old enough. Then they took me to an orphanage in Trost, and I lived there for the next two years until I joined the 104th. You all know the rest."

We all sit in silence. Most people are looking at Historia with sympathy, some are looking dumbfounded at the ground and Levi is looking thoughtfully up at the ceiling. "Actually, there's one other thing we don't know," he says, "Why'd you tell everyone you're real name?"

"Because, because I'm sick and tired of living a lie. Every day I spent living as Krista Lenz, the good little girl, I was denying Historia Riess another day of her life. I felt like I was dying inside. Still, I was afraid. Then someone told me something two years ago. They said that I shouldn't be ashamed of who I was, or to try and die somewhere in some oh so heroic way. They said that if I wanted to be brave I needed to admit who I was and stop telling myself that my life had no meaning. That stuck in my head for the next two years until finally, on that morning just before we were deployed to fight in Trost, I told Matthias who I was.

"I spent some time with him after that as myself rather than a mask. I thought it might help to stem the feelings I had of being enclosed inside. It just made them worse though. In the end I decided that enough was enough and when we were all up on top of that tower and I was sure I was going to die well, I decided to hell with being frightened of who I am."

"How very, touching," says Levi, sarcasm pretty much leaking out of his voice to the point where part of me expects it to splash out onto the table. I scowl at him but he ignores me. "Well, perhaps your father decided that it was time to come and get you. We haven't been able to dig much up on the Riess family, but we do know that your father is Roderick Riess and that also had at one point three more children by his actual wife. Apparently they all died several years back."

"That would explain what Historia's father meant by the last one left," says Hange. "It sounds like Historia may be the heir to the Riess Dynasty."

"But a bastard can't inherit unless legitimised," points out Levi. "And as far as we can tell Historia has not been."

"Yes, that does throw a spanner in the works doesn't it? Still, that's where all the evidence seems to me to be pointing."

"But why send her to join the military if she's so important?" asks Armin. "Surely they wouldn't want to run the risk of her being eaten by titan if she's the heir."

"It's possible they don't want her as the heir," points out Levi. "In the end all we know is that they want to get their hands on her, Matthias and Eren for some reason. I think it makes sense to assume that the Riess family is at the least a major player in this matter. We'll have to try and find out more about them. They seem to have something of a shadow role in the politics of the Kingdom; no official position of great power, but when they want things to happen they always do. That implies that they're pretty good at pulling strings. They may have been the ones behind the initial demand that Eren be handed over to the MPs."

"So, is there anything we can do?" asks Eren.

"For the mean time, no."

Extra: Structure of the Human Military

The Military of Althand is divided into three branches or Regiments: The Garrison Regiment, The Scout Regiment and The Military Police Regiment. Regiment is not actually a strategic unit however, only a way of distinguishing which branch of the armed forces an individual is from. The land within the Walls is divided along an east-west axis into two parts: the northern and southern territories. These each posses a Garrison force commanded by one of the two Generals of the Military. These are both then split into eastern and western halves which are governed by a Lieutenant-General. A third a final split is made under the command of a Major-General. Each of the outlier Districts is protected by a triune of men lead by a Colonel.

The smallest organisational unit is the Squad, made up of five privates and a corporal. Four of these along with a Sergeant and a Lieutenant make up one of the three platoons in a company, which is lead by a captain. These captains are nominally under a major in a battalion of three (though in the case of the Scouts they are lead by Major-General Erwin Smith). Three battalions go into a triune under a Colonel, three triunes into a Division under a Major-General, two Divisions into a sub-territory under a Lieutenant-General and finally two sub-territories make up a primary territory under a General.

The Military Police number around 8100 at their usual estimate of full strength, being composed of nine separate triunes which in the case of the MPs are called Brigades. These forces are usually deployed solely within the inner territory of Wall Sina, though they can be deployed beyond it should the need arise.

The Scouts number a meager 300 strong at full strength, only around a Battalion's worth. This broken down into four companies under four separate Captains. Usually the commander would be a Major, but since the Regiment needs a high ranking officer as its representative it is commanded by a Major-General.

The Garrison number around 10800 strong, divided between the northern and southern territories.

 **Note: This is not necessarily the method organisation used in the actual manga/anime. I'm not aware how they are organised in that so I have endevoured to create my own system. This is the system which will be followed throughout all of my pieces.**


	13. The Uprising Part 1

Chapter 11: The Uprising Part 1: Compromised

 _"It's coming apart around the weak spot, look!"_

 _"It looks like there's something coming out. What the hell?"_

 _"Dear god. I, I think it's a kid."_

 _"Hey hold on a minute; that thing just came out of a titan!"_

 _"Ah! Dam his skin is hot."_

 _"Kid, kid hey can you hear me?"_

 _"Who are you, do you have a name?"_

 _"We aren't in a position to make any kind of decision. This one goes to the top."_

 _"Aren't you cold like that?"_

 _"I want muskets issued to all personal, that includes civilians. Those lunatics do not get into this building!"_

 _"The Sacrifice! Give us the Sacrifice!"_

My eyes snap open and I sit up with a gasp. My breathing is erratic and I have to shut my eyes again as I calm myself down. "Matthias, what's wrong?" asks Armin.

"Just, just more memories that's all," I reply, rubbing my temples as a slight headache creeps into my skull.

"Anything clear?"

"No. More people talking about titans and something about people trying to break into a building; nothing coherent. They keep using that word though."

"Which one?"

"Sacrifice. The Beast Titan called me that, so did Annie, Reiner and Bertolt. I suppose it has some significance but Reiner and Bertolt said they don't really know what it means. If I am, or if I was meant to be a sacrifice, what on earth could possibly demand a human life as payment?"

Armin shivers, "there are stories about some of the cultures before the Titans. Some of them apparently killed humans in an effort to please their gods."

"I guess there are some things that we can thank the Titans for getting rid of then."

Armin looks at me surprised. "Actually, I've been thinking something similar. I mean, I don't think that the sacrifice it's taken was really worth it but, the Titans have given us more unity that mankind ever had in the old world. Mankind hasn't known the kind of peace we had over the last hundred years at any other time in our history that we're aware of."

"It hasn't stopped us from trying to rip each other's throats out when crisis hit though," says Eren from the doorway. "Even with the Titans bearing down on us we've still managed to fight and bicker amongst ourselves to the point where we're likely to wipe ourselves out."

"Good morning to you to," I say dryly.

"Seriously it's stupid," continues Eren unabashed. "We have the biggest opportunity for fighting back that mankind has had in over a century and these people just want to throw it all away!"

"They're frightened," explains Armin simply. "They're frightened and they don't understand."

"Don't they?" I ask.

"What do you mean?" asks Armin in surprise.

"I mean that I'm not so sure that the people behind this push for securing me, Eren and Historia don't know exactly what they're doing."

"What makes you say that?" asks Eren, his gaze intent.

"Nothing concrete," I admit, "It's just a feeling I get after Historia's story a week ago. I'd heard it before of course but there was something she mentioned in that she didn't the last time. She said that there were men in red robes present when her father had her mother killed. I'm not completely sure why but that set something inside me trembling. I don't think those men are scared Armin, and if they are it's not us that they're scared of."

My two friends stare at me worriedly. "You know, you could be right," admits Eren eventually. "Reiner and Bertolt said they were going to take us to someone. They didn't give him a name but there defiantly was someone. Right now I'd give almost anything just know who our real enemy is. It isn't the Titans and I don't think it's the government either. Something else is pulling the strings here."

"I dread to think who or what could be in control of all of this," says Armin with a shiver. "Who could create and drive the Titans whilst manipulating the central government at the same time? Who would even want to for that matter?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask in confusion.

"Well, it strikes me that if there were a being with sufficient power to control the Titans, including Annie, Reiner, Bertolt and the Beast Titan, then why waste energy manipulating the government. In fact I can't help but wonder why they've waited such a long time to attack us. On top of that why wait five years between the attack on Shiganshina and the attack on Trost?"

"Something must have changed five years ago," I realise out loud. "What happened that might have prompted a sudden change of heart on the part of our enemy?"

"Us I suppose," says Eren. "The titan shifters appearing must have had some impact right?"

"Possibly," says Armin, "but I'm not convinced that it's it entirely. We know that Matthias was around for more than likely a full hundred years before he was taken in by his foster parents, so titan shifters in and of themselves are nothing new."

Eren raises an eyebrow, "you know, I never thought about it like this before but, Matthias you're actually really old. Like, about a hundred twenty years old or something like that."

"In that case I'd say I aged pretty well," I reply with a grin. "To be fair I didn't actually get to properly live all one hundred and twenty of those years. Only fifteen of them are actually mine. But Armin, if it wasn't the titan shifters, then what was it that changed?"

"I don't know. But I'd hazard a guess that whatever it was took place about two years before the fall of Wall Maria."

"Why two years?" asks Eren.

"Because two years ago two very strange and unexplained things happened: Matthias's father left suddenly and Historia was moved away from her grandparents to live with a new family. Those things must have happened within a few days of each other if the date Historia gave us is accurate. I wonder, did anything odd happen around that time for you Eren?"

"Not that I can think of. I met you two whole years before that, and I met Mikasa towards the end of that year not in the middle of it."

"What about your father?" I ask suddenly. "Did anything strange happen with him around that time that you can recall?"

Eren looks at me in confusion, "what makes you ask that?"

"Remember what the Pastor said to us: he said that our fathers could give us all the information we needed. On top of that my mom mentioned that my dad was going to meet up with someone he called 'the doctor'. You're father's a doctor."

Eren squints slightly as he tries to remember. "Yes!" he exclaims suddenly, "he went away on a long trip to the capital for three weeks. When he came back he looked rather worn, like he hadn't slept for days. It was about that time when he started working down in the basement."

"So," says Armin, putting his finger tips together and staring intently ahead, "something happened that was distinctly strange in the lives of all three of you at around the same time. I'm not prepared to believe that's a coincidence. It sounds as if both your fathers did something that changed things somehow. Since it seems like they both had knowledge concerning the Titans it isn't that hard to believe. But what on earth could two men do that could force the hand of someone powerful enough to be master of the Titans?"

"I can't imagine," says an excited voice from the veranda above us. We all look up to see Captain Hange leaning over the edge and watching us. I honestly have no idea how long she's been there for. "Actually, that's a lie," she says looking thoughtfully up at the ceiling, "I can imagine quite a few different things as it happens. Not that any of them make sense mind."

"How, how long were you up there?" asks Armin nervously.

"Oh long enough to get the general idea," says the Captain with her usual crazed smile. "I must say it's an intriguing hypothesis Corporal, I'm interested to see if it turns out to be correct." Armin turns slightly red at being called Corporal. Ever since his promotion Hange has been deliberately taking the time to refer to him by his new rank whenever they're in conversation together. Armin can't stand it but the rest of us think it's pretty entertaining.

"We've been trying to locate Eren's father," continues Hange, "but we can't find any trace of him on any records up until a few months after the fall of Wall Maria. The most recent thing we've been able to dig up is a record of him paying for lodgings at an inn in Trost. After that there's nothing, almost as if vanished off the face of the Earth."

"Trost?" says Eren in confusion, "Why would dad have been in Trost?"

"Not a clue. That was three months after the fall of Maria, which would make it two months after the last time you saw him yes?" Eren nods. I can tell from the look on his face that he doesn't like to be reminded of how his father seems to have run out on him after his mother's death. "It gets even stranger though," continues the First Captain. "According to censuses he appeared suddenly in Shiganshina in a similar way to Matthias. The only difference is that he appeared ten years before Matthias did and as a grown man and a doctor."

My mind flashes back to the image of Eren's father I saw when I thought I was going to be devoured. "Eren," I say slowly, "there was a strange feeling I always had around your dad actually. It was like I knew that he was safe to be around. Almost as if I knew him somehow. I mean, I did know him of course, but, I had that feeling from the very first time I met him."

Eren glances at me in surprise. "Oooh," exclaims Hange, craning her neck further over the railings than is probably safe. "Now that is interesting. Didn't you say you saw him in one of your flashbacks Matthias?"

I nod. "And on top of that I could have sworn a voice I heard several times in my dreams belonged to him as well."

"I don't want to jump to conclusions or anything," says Hange. "But I think it's a very real possibility that Eren's father is like Matthias; from the old world."

"What? How is that possible?" asks Eren, the disbelief heavy in his voice.

"The only way it can be," says Armin, "Eren, you may not like it but I think you have to accept the possibility that-

Armin doesn't finish his sentence though. The door into the cabin bursts open and Mikasa rushes in. "The red signal's gone up!" she gasps. "They've found us!"

"What?!" exclaims Hange, vaulting over the railings. To my surprise she tucks herself up into a neat roll as she lands, flipping back her feet neatly afterwards. She dashes out the door and we follow her. Sure enough, drifting sparsely on the thinly clouded horizon is a single red streak of smoke. There are several lookouts posted to warn us of anybody approaching the area and if any unauthorised members of the military appear it's to be assumed that we've been found out. The smoke signal isn't exactly subtle, but it's likely that subtlety isn't going to get us anywhere now.

"How did they find us?" asks Armin under his breath. "No one knew about us except the Commander and few of the most trustworthy Scouts. Their backgrounds were all hand checked so there's no way they'd turn us in."

"Worry about that later," says Hange. Her personality has snapped away from the excitable scientist to the serious soldier. "For now we need to evacuate. The signal's high enough that everyone should be able to see it, so we don't need to worry about running around rounding people up. Head for the stables and get mounted up. I'm going inside to make sure we don't leave any clues behind as to what we were up to."

We turn and hurry around the front of the house. We run into Connie and Jean on the way. "Was that what I think it was?" asks Jean.

"Exactly that," says Armin. "We need to get to the horses and get out of here as fast as we can."

"That's not going to work," says Jean through gritted teeth. "Someone's let the horses loose and now they're scattered all over the place."

"What?!" I gasp. "How?"

"Isn't it obvious?" asks Jean. "We've been ratted out from the inside; there's another traitor amongst us."

"B-but, we checked," stutters Armin in shock. "The only other members of the 104th to be issued with plans that had Eren on the right wing were me and Connie. And Connie you were with Jean the whole time right?"

"Yeah," says Connie nodding. "Besides, I don't have any connection to Annie, Reiner or Bertolt outside of the Cadet Corps."

"Talking won't solve anything right now," says Mikasa, "We need to take action and we need to do it now. Armin, what do you say we do?"

"I, I'm not sure," says Armin. "I know I have a level of command now but I'm not in charge. We need to find Captain Levi or Captain Hange."

"Well you're in luck," says Levi from behind us. We all turn to see him along with Historia and two Scouts trudging up the bank down towards the forest. "Why's everyone just standing around here, didn't you see the flare?"

"Yes sir but someone's set the horses loose," explains Jean.

"Shit!" spits Levi. "I doubt we can make it away from whoever it is on foot." His gaze becomes even sterner (something I didn't think was possible), "it's probably going to come to a fight then. I expect all of you to be prepared to kill if necessary."

"Wait, you mean, kill people?" gasps Jean.

"You're a soldier aren't you?" says Levi. "That's what soldiers are for; you fight and if you have to you kill."

"But, but they're human beings aren't they?" splutters Jean. "We can't just kill them."

"Then the odds are they'll kill you," replies Levi, pressing his face up close to Jean's. "It may not come to it but I expect it will. You will be prepared to kill in order to ensure Mankind's survival, is that understood?"

"Y-yes sir," says Jean. I can tell he isn't really sure about it. I'm not sure myself actually. The idea of taking someone else's life, of depriving them of all the days they had left to experience feels horrible. I think though, if it came to someone killing one of the people I cared about or me killing them I wouldn't hesitate. But actually going after someone with the intent to kill? I don't know if I can do that.

"I want everyone to equip Omni-Directional Mobility Gear ASAP and regroup out here," instructs the Captain. "After that we fall back to the trees and attempt to ambush the new arrivals."

The group breaks up in a rush as we find ourselves scrambling up stairs and pulling open cupboards to reveal 3D Gear. Hastily I clip mine into place and pull two full cylinders of gas down from the storage shelf. I hand those two to Armin behind me and then pull down two more for myself. We quickly slot these into place before dashing outside again.

The Captain is waiting for us along with Eren, Jean and another one of the Scouts. "Come on," says Levi, "we need to-

He's suddenly cut off by the whirling zip of an ODM line and the loud crack of a gunshot splits the air. I spin round to see two dozen figures come hurtling out of the forest. On their backs is a strange kind of apparatus and gripped in their hands are pistols of some kind. They move between the trees with a kind of agility I've never seen before by anyone using Manoeuvre Gear bar a handful of the most skilled soldiers. As I watch on of the men raises one of his weapons and fires. The sound of the shot rips through my ears and there's a brilliant flash. The Scout standing on my right lets out a cry and falls dead to the ground as the enemy pours out of the forest.


	14. The Uprising Part 2

Chapter 12: The Uprising Part 2: Human Hunters

"Move!" screams Levi. I fire my cables into the edge of the cabin roof and throw myself up into the air. I back flip onto the thatched roof as four of the enemy rush past me. They aren't wearing any kind of uniform but the devices they're using appear very similar to the 3D Manoeuvre Gear. However, they aren't carrying swords so this system would be useless for taking on titans. 'What on earth is it for then?' I ask myself, even as the obvious explanation occurs to me. 'These aren't for killing titans, they're for killing humans!'

One of the hunters turns and fires at me, forcing me to sprawl flat as the shots fly overhead. Normally gunshots wouldn't be such a worry they're so inaccurate, but at this range they're far more likely to hit. I see Levi whizz around the corner of the building, blades flashing as he draws. He hurls himself straight at one of the attackers and makes a precision strike. The blades-sharp as razors-slice easily through most of his neck and deal significant damage to his waist. The hunter doesn't even have time to cry out before he's dead. "All hands engage!" orders the Captain.

I can't move though. I've been in combat with titans before but this is completely different. I can hear bullets flying this way and that and I can't even tell clearly who's who. 'How can anyone fight under these conditions? If I move I'll be hit for sure!' I swallow and try to calm myself down a little, 'no I won't. The odds of being hit are still not very high. They've only got two guns each and those can only fire one shot at a time from the looks of it. Just stay calm; you can do this.'

I draw blades and leap forwards off of the building. One of the hunters flies close by and on the spur of the moment I fire one of my grapples at him. The cable zips through the air and the hook embeds in the man's flesh. The man grunts as it does so. I use the sudden strike to turn in mid air, detaching the grapple as I do so. The hunter lands on the roof with a clumsy clatter as I turn to face him.

I fire both cables into the roof and pull myself forwards. The man raises one of his guns to shoot me but he's too slow. In a single clean strike I slice off his right hand. He screams in pain as his stump of a limb spurts blood. 'What now?' I suddenly ask myself. I know what I ought to do next but I can't bring myself to move.

"Matthias get down!" I hear someone scream at me. I whirl around to see a woman about to shoot me and I fall backwards away from the path of the shot. Unfortunately that fall takes me off of the roof entirely and I plummet towards the ground. I manage to pull myself up at the last second, lessening the impact as I thump onto the grass. The fall winds me but nothing more.

Now I'm exposed to several of the attackers at once though and I don't have time to move out of the way of their shots. I look up to see one of them taking aim. He never makes his shot though as a second figure rips past them, blades carving their way through his flesh. Mikasa spins in mid air before reattaching herself to the cabin and moving towards it.

I take the opportunity to scramble to my feet and sprint of the trees. Out here in the small open area there simply isn't much to use as an anchor point so I'm likely to end up a sitting duck again.

I land on one of the thicker branches and look back. The hunters are swarming all over the building and our forces are already in full retreat back towards the trees. I can see that two of the Scouts are already dead and at least four of the enemy have been killed. Eren and Connie are both making a brake for the trees, but three of the attackers have moved to block their path.

I jump out of the tree and pull myself towards them. I cut one man's lower arms off with a two point strike and plant both feet into his back, sending him plummeting towards the ground. I pull up and watch as he lands with an unpleasant thud and a slight cracking noise. Eren zips past me and turns to take a slash at another one of the attackers, missing by only a few centimetres.

I hastily move back up to their level and make a rather wild slash at one of their faces. My swing isn't very good, but the tip of one of my blades catches the man's cheek and rips open a large gash. He screams in pain and I hear a gunshot. I expect to feel the stinging sensation of a bullet entering my body, except nothing comes. I turn to see that it isn't the man I just attacked who fired but his companion. With a grunt of pain Connie falls backwards towards the rocky ground.

He lands on a patch of grass and rolls several meters before hitting a large boulder. "No!" Eren screams and at the same time throws himself into a collision with the woman who just shot Connie. The two of them slam into a tree and Eren runs the woman through with his blade, impaling her to it. The man I just gashed kicks me in the stomach and swing backwards. He raises both of his guns and fires. I let my cables go in time to dodge one of the shots but the other rips into my left shoulder.

I pull up and use one of the branches to swing under him coming up behind his exposed back. The pain from my shoulder is excruciating and I can barely focus on the fight. Recklessly I fire my hooks ahead of me without even bothering to check if there's a usable anchor point. One embeds into a tree slightly to my left while the other falls wide without hitting anything. The one anchor is enough to pull me forwards though. The man turns to face me as I make a wide swing at his head. The razor sharp blade easily cuts its way through flesh and bone, resulting in a partial decapitation. The man dies instantly, falling backwards to land with a sickening crunch against one of the rocks bellow.

I land somewhat crudely on the open patch of ground where Connie fell. I hurry over to him and use my still working right arm to turn him over. Blood is welling up from the entrance wound on the right side of his chest. Judging from the positioning it should have missed his heart and to my relief I can hear a ragged wheeze of air as he breathes. "He's alive!" I call out to Eren as he descends down from the canopy.

Eren bends over Connie's battered form and looks at the wound. He grimaces at the expanding red mark on his friend's chest. "How do we stop the bleeding?" he asks looking at me expectantly.

"I, I'm not sure," I stutter. "I suppose we need to remove the bullet and wrap something over the wound. I don't think we have time now to perform any sort of field treatment though. Look!" I point towards where six more of the enemy are entering the trees in pursuit of Armin, Hange, Ymir and Historia. As we watch there's the crack of a gunshot and Ymir jerks slightly to the right as she moves, but maintains he position despite the injury. I turn back to Eren, "you can carry him right? My left arms pretty much gone for the time being." Eren nods and hauls Connie's bleeding form into his arms.

I fire my grapples into a nearby tree and swing myself back into the air. Once I reach a height of about ten metres I begin to move forwards. The cabin was located on the top of a long slope down towards the flats, which is covered in tall pines. The floor of this sloping forest is carpeted with a mixture of both grass and bushes and large rocks which just out like thorns, ready to break apart anyone unfortunate enough to fall on them.

As we continue our retreat the sound of gun fire continues to break apart the air. There's a whizzing noise just by my right ear as a bullet misses me and embeds in a tree. 'Who are these people?' I find myself wondering admits the panic and confusion, 'are they soldiers or something? If not then how on earth did they get this modified version of the Manoeuvre Gear?' The questions simply swim around my head unanswered. I don't have the time to even consider what the answers might be right now though.

One of the attackers overtakes me and pulls up, turning in mid air to fire directly at me. He's underestimated how fast I'm going though and I crash headlong into him before he can fire his weapons. As we both spin and struggle to remain airborne I ram my knee into his groin. In response he fires one of his guns, but the shot is made wildly and hits nothing. His cables let go and he hangs off of me, scrambling to get his other loaded weapon into a position to fire it. I manage to work my right arm free of the tangle and cut into his left arm.

Then there are two shots and I feel a stinging pain in my right leg as one of the bullets embeds itself. The hunter is not as lucky though, dropping away from me towards the ground. One of his comrades decided to try and take a shot at us and one of the rounds went into his skull. Gasping I hurriedly try to move on, firing into the next tree and pulling myself into a zigzag movement in an effort to try and make myself harder to hit.

The next few minutes are pure mayhem as bullets fly through the air and Scouts take wild slashes at those enemies who try to come in close to improve their accuracy. I even see Captain Levi skilfully throw one of his blades into a pursuer, knocking them clean out of the air. The slope gets steeper and steeper as we go, to the point where we're more or less falling straight down rather than moving horizontally. Getting around the trees proves at times to be difficult and at one point I only just miss hitting one by a second's worth of reaction time. One of the hunters smashes her head into a branch and plummets down to the ground and one of the Scouts that I don't know rams directly into a tree, stabbing himself with his own blades.

It's as we come towards the bottom of the slope that I realise there's nowhere for us to go after we reach the flats. Without horses or anchor points for our 3D Gear we've no way of getting away. These people have ranged weapons and we don't, so I don't fancy our chances in an open combat. Before I can think about that any further though we're hurtling out into the bright sunlight with only a sparse handful of trees in sight.

I manage to land fairly smoothly despite my momentum and turn around to see around fifteen Scouts emerge from the trees, followed by twenty seven of the enemy. About fifty metres behind us is a road which leads to the nearest town thirty two kilometres from here. There's no point trying it though, since we'd be running from our attackers on foot, and they likely have horses not too far from here.

As Eren swings out of the forest-still carrying Connie-one of the attackers fires at him, hitting him in leg. Eren grunts and screws up his landing, dropping Connie and falling in a heap. The hunters rush towards him as he falls. One of them (a tall dark haired man with three long pale scars running down his left cheek and wearing a long brown coat) rushes over and kicks Eren directly in the face. Eren spits blood and tries to scramble to his feet. "Serum!" the scarred man shouts to one of his comrades, who throws him what looks like a syringe filled with pale yellow liquid. Before Eren can get up the man jabs the needle into his neck. Eren shakes for a few moments before falling forwards onto his face.

"Eren!" screams Mikasa. She runs towards Eren's slumped form and the scarred man spins in place, firing one of his weapons directly at Mikasa. She lets out a faint gasp as the bullet passes through her middle and she falls backwards.

"Filthy eastern wench," spits the man, kicking her savagely in the head. "Get this brat out of here!" he yells to two of the others, "one's a good start. Take him to the Fox's Head and keep him quiet on the way. We'll be joining you shortly." The two men nod and haul the unconscious Eren to his feet. One of them hoists him over his shoulder while the other watches the rear as they both run towards the trees. "Now then," says the man with an animalistic snarl, "There are two more of you who my master wants to meet very badly. It'd be faster if you'd just hand them over, but then, that wouldn't be very fun now would it?"

I shoot a hurried glance at the two Captains. Levi looks completely different to how I've seen him before. His face is contorted with rage and his hands are even shaking. Hange looks ice calm though, her eyes coolly surveying the scene in front of her. "Well, we wouldn't want to deprive you of your fun now would we?"she says. "Matthias, I think this circumstance justifies a rather extreme course of action don't you?"

"Yes sir," I reply swallowing nervously. 'These guys aren't set up to fight titans, that's clear enough. I guess they were hoping to subdue me and Eren with drugs of some kind before we could transform. Still, I'm not really sure about this.' With a deep breath I sink my teeth into my right hand, sending a small spurt of blood followed by a brilliant flash.

As my titan body materialises around me I break into a charge. My legs though still only partially formed propel me forwards like a cannon ball. The enemy scatter out of the way as I stampede through them, crushing one of them under foot and sending another flying through the air with a kick. I roar as loud and as savagely as I can, hoping to frighten them off without any need for direct combat. Several of the hunters begin to retreat towards the trees but the scared man just grins up at me with gleaming eyes.

"Heh and here was I thinking that I wouldn't get to see one of you freaks after all," he says in a silky voice. "Good, good; I enjoy a challenge." With that he holsters his pistols by his sides and detaching the gun component takes out the handles. I swing my fist at him and he jumps backwards in time to escape being pulverised. He reaches inside of his coat and pulls something out. My eyes widen as I see him draw a pair of blades. "All hands engage the Scouts and keep them occupied. You can kill any of them except for the Riess girl. Although," he adds as if as an afterthought, "I wouldn't mind getting to kill the shorty myself."

He swings up and around me with such incredible speed I can barely tell where he is. His movements are a total blur to me and I flail wildly in an effort to protect my nape. I clamp my left hand over it and try to lash out with my right. The man easily dodges my swings and I feel a searing hot pain as he cuts through the fingers on my left hand. His attacks are so fast I can't keep up at all. As he moves past my head in a blur of motion I lunge forwards and try to bite him out of the air. He dodges easily but he changes course away from my nape.

Trying to keep him on the back foot I swipe at him with my right hand. Instead of dodging backwards he fires his cables into me pulls himself forwards. In a dark whoosh of motion he cuts into my right shoulder, severing multiple supporting tendons and ligaments in his attack. I feel my right arm of limp and I stagger away in panic. 'What do I do? He's too fast, I can't stop him!'

The man attacks again, striking at my head this time and carving out my left eye. The pain is worse than almost anything I've felt and I can't help screaming. I can feel my shoulder trying to knit itself back together again as the individual fibres reform themselves. It's not going to be fast enough though. I trip over and fall backwards to land with a crash and a cloud of dust. "You're mine now!" jeers the man as he hovers over me. "You stupid fools and your special powers. Always thinking you were better than us ordinary mortals. Well now the shoe's on the other foot isn't it? Let's see who's all haughty when we're done here eh?!"

Before he can launch into his final attack though, a second blur streaks into my field of vision. It knocks the man away, sending him flying into the branches of an oak tree. Captain Levi hurls through the canopy of leaves and out the other side, clutching at the man's throat. He twists free and elbows Levi hard in the shoulder. As they land the two come apart and skid slightly. "Well, well, if it isn't Corporal Ackerman," says the man with a sneer. "Oh wait, no, sorry, it's Captain now isn't it? You always did cling to the brass like a small raggedy child Levi!"

"I did my duty to Humanity," spits back Levi, "That's more than you can say Bruce!"

"Duty to Humanity?" laughs Bruce, "The only duty I had then was to myself. I'll admit I've gone up in the world a little now since the whole Erwin incident but I'm still looking out for number one. You really should meet my client Ackerman. He'd just love to have you and the rest of your filthy clan whipped off the face of the Earth. You and all the rest of God's rejects!"

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Oh right silly me, I forget your precious daddy never told you the special stories did he? Went and got himself eaten before you were even four years old. I'm sure that must have been just terrible for you mustn't it?"

"How do you know about my father?"

"I know a lot more than that Levi. Not just about you but about everything. My client has been keeping me on his payroll for a while now, and I've picked up a lot of interesting things over the past ten years. If you want to come work him too I'm sure he'd be happy to impart some of his knowledge."

"Shut the fuck up! I'm going to kill you, just like I should have done all those years ago!"

"Dream on Ackerman. If this how you want it then that's just fine with me; you'll be able to top off my trophy rack very nicely!"

Levi snarls and charges forwards. Bruce deflects his first swing to the right and takes a step back as Levi draws up for a second. The Captain drives him backwards with swing after swing, each one deflected in a hail of sparks. Finally Bruce catches one of Levi's attacks and forces his right blade down his own left blade. He tries to run Levi through but he manages to parry the attack.

By this point I can feel that all my injuries have healed, and I look back towards where the Scouts are fighting against the main body of the enemy. They've all taken to squatting down in ditches and I can see Armin with his back to a tree. The hunters are steadily advancing, firing as they go to keep the Scouts' heads down. I glance back at Levi in brief indecision before rising to my feet and turning towards the hunters.

Suddenly though there's a bang from somewhere back up the slopes. All of the hunters stop firing to turn and the sound of clashing blades ceases momentarily. I look behind me to see a purple smoke trail rising into the sky. 'Purple? That isn't one of our signals.' The hunters to my surprise being an immediate withdrawal, firing at the Scouts as they run.

"Dam," hisses Bruce, "I guess we'll have to continue this another time Ackerman. Until then, try not to die; I'd hate to miss the opportunity." Levi roars and charges forwards, but before he can go more than three steps there's a bang as Bruce sets off a smoke bomb. Levi comes to a stop coughing before being lost to m field of vision. Bruce breaks out from the smoke at a run, heading for the trees. I try to grab him but he jumps neatly over my outstretched hand and swings up into the trees. Within a minute all of the hunters are gone.

I pull myself out of my titan form and slide down to the ground. I look around me and my stomach tightens. Eren and his captors are likely far away by now, several of those Scouts still alive are wounded and Mikasa and Connie are both bleeding to death on the ground in front of me.


	15. The Uprising Part 3

**Warning! This chapter contains field surgery where someone is actually cut open and operated on. I avoid any indepth descriptions but if you feel as if that would make you uncomfortable then I suggest you skip the first part of this chapter. The sequence will end after these markings ****.**

Chapter 13: The Uprising Part 3: Collapse

"Is she going to die?" asks Armin, eyes filled with emotion.

"Not if I can help it," replies Hange. She's bending over Mikasa, who is still managing to breathe sporadically. "Oh no," murmurs Hange as she undoes Mikasa's shirt to examine the wound.

"What?" I ask. I'm trying to stay calm, but seeing one of my oldest friends bleeding to death isn't exactly a calming experience.

"She suffered severe damage to her intestinal organs; there's a lot of internal bleeding."

"Is there anything you can do?" asks Armin.

"I'm not actually medical specialist," explains the Captain, "We had a medic assigned to us of course Arnold Hunt, but he was killed at the start of the battle. If we were in an actually surgery I'd still have decent enough chances to save her but out here." Hange shakes her head, "I've got no way of performing effective surgery on her."

"Does that mean?"

"Not necessarily. I can still try but I'm not making any promises." She stands up and looks at the assembled soldiers. "I need some of you to start a fire so we can boil some water. I'll also need some of you to rip portions of your clothing off for bandages, so make sure they're clean parts. Also, is anyone's got any alcohol on them we need it now." One of the men looks a little sheepish and takes out a flask. "Oh thank God!" exclaims Hange, "I needed something to knock her out with and this should be perfect. I'll overlook the fact that it's against regulations to have it on you just this once all right?" The man nods and hurries off to help search for firewood.

Hange turns to face me and Armin. "All right, we don't have any sort of surgical tools out here so we're going to have to improvise. We already have excellent cutting blades so that takes away the need for a scalpel, but I'm going to need a clean work space if you can find one and well as something to act as a needle and thread. Go, move!" She turns away and bends back over Mikasa, looking more closely at the open wound.

"I'll handle the needle and thread," says Armin, "You go find somewhere clean we can put her. Also, the First Captain will probably need water so I suggest you keep your eyes open for a water source as well."

"Yes sir," I acknowledge before dashing off.

"I thought I told you not to call me sir!" I hear Armin exclaim from behind me. I shake my head with a sigh and run on.

Two minutes later and I'm back. "Captain Hange," I gasp, "there's a small fresh water spring surrounded by stone only a few minutes from here. There's a good smooth piece of rock we can lay her on just next to it."

"Perfect," says Hange. "Jean, Ymir, how's that stretcher coming?"

"We're ready now," announces Jean. He and Ymir have improvised a stretcher by tying four jackets to a pair of long branches by their sleeves. They hastily carry it over and set it down next to Mikasa. Jean's emotion is so evident on his face it looks like he's on the verge of tears. I'd always thought it a little bit ironic that while Jean was the one who loved Mikasa, Mikasa only cared about someone who'd never even given her a romantic eye.

"Okay then, Matthias take her legs," instructs Hange, "Jean her arms. Ymir, I want you to try and keep her middle as steady as possible; the last thing we need is for that bullet to be moved around more than it needs to be." I nod and move around to grasp Mikasa by the ankles. Jean very carefully takes her wrists and Ymir slips her hand underneath her back and waist. "Three, two, one up," orders the Captain. We lift Mikasa in a single clean motion and set her down again on the improvised stretcher. She lets out a slight groan of pain as we move her, but nothing more.

"All right then, Jean and Ymir you're stretcher bearers. Matthias I want you to run on ahead of us and try to scrub that rock you told us about. Get it as clean as you can."

"Yes sir," I say and set off at a run, careful not to run so fast as to leave the others behind. It takes longer to reach the spring than it did for me on my own since I was able to run faster, so two minutes later Mikasa is set down on the now sparkling stone. Her face looks frighteningly pale to my eyes, and her chest is only rising and falling very slightly.

"They should be finished with the fire by now," says Hange turning to us. "Go and get your bottles filled with boiled water and get back her as fast as you can. We all nod and sprint off. We meet Armin on the way back, carrying a bundle of some kind. There isn't time to see what he's improvising for thread though. We find that Historia and Sasha have already started boiling the water inside their own flasks, and we quickly exchange bottles once they're done.

Just before we leave I look up to see a group of horsemen heading our way. They're enshrouded in green cloaks and my heart leaps as I realise that they're Scouts. We don't have time to stay and great them though, instead we sprint back towards the spring where Hange is waiting. When we get there Jean immediately turns pale and looks away. Ymir grimaces and I find myself transfixed, but not in a good way.

Hange is bending over the now senseless Mikasa, blood all over her hands. She's made a straight cut down Mikasa's stomach and is now carefully trying to push aside her innards to reach the bullet. She doesn't look up as we arrive. Then her hands close around something she gingerly withdraws her hand. Clutched in her fingers is a small dark ball of metal, covered in clots of blood. The Captain sets it down and then turns back to the grisly visage. I can see that her face is full of concentration, but it also has a white tinge in it I'm not used to.

'I never thought she'd have a problem cutting someone open. Perhaps humans are different from titans, or perhaps it's the stress of the moment.' Either way Hange looks decidedly uncomfortable. I feel even worse myself as I kneel down beside her. "I-is there anything I can do?" I manage to ask.

Hange looks up at me surprised. "Just be ready to hand me things as I ask for them," she says, her voice a little shaky. "You two leave the water here and go get some more!" she tells Jean and Ymir, who look only too happy to leave.

It's just then that I remember Armin. I look around the spring to see him sitting with his back to the operation and his head in his hands. I open my mouth to say something but Hange cuts me off, "don't lose focus on the task at hand. He'll be fine, now pay attention." I nod.

"Shard," orders Hange, holding out her hand expectantly. Confused I look over the array of improvised bits and pieces. Seeing a thin broken sliver of metal I pick it up and hand it to her. "Our Corporal's idea for a needle," she explains. I can't bring myself to look directly at the surgery as Hange pinches and pokes at Mikasa's organs. "Thread." "Shard again." "Thread again." "Shard for the last time." "Thread to finish it off."

Hange finally draws the flesh back together again with the final strands of cotton, drawn I suppose from Armin's shirt. She then finishes off wrapping several lengths of improvised bandage around Mikasa's waist. "There," sighs Hange, "I cleaned up everything on my way out and now she's been put back together again. I just hope it holds long enough."

"So, she's going to live?" I ask.

"Maybe," says Hange, biting her lip. "I can't promise you anything though."

A day later and I'm slumped in a wooden chair around a table. A small amount of light filters in through the single window in the next room, but apart from that the room is dim. Captain Hange sits at the head of the table with her head in her hands, while Levi leans against the wall. His face is shrouded by the lack of light and this gives him a particularly menacing look. Armin, Historia, Victor and another Scout by the name of Harold who's acting as Captain of the 4th company are all seated around the table.

"First Captain Hange?" prompts Victor. Hange lets out a groan and raises her head to face the rest of us.

"As of now it's Commander Hange, Captain Victor," she says gloomily, putting particular emphasis on the words commander and captain.

"Sir?" asks Victor in surprise.

"Major-General Erwin Smith has been arrested for treason against the crown."

We all stare at her in a stunned silence. "W-Why?" I ask.

"Because our enemies have total control over this stupid situation that's why!" snaps Hange. She sighs and her voice returns to its normal level. "All we know is that he's currently being held and that the entirety of the Survey Corps has been officially disbanded. As of now all members of the Scouts who do not report into high command for processing within the next two days are to be considered enemies of the crown."

"Well then," grunts Levi, "this should give you the perfect opportunity to play at outlaws in the forest then shouldn't it."

"That's no way to talk to your superior Levi," says Hange in a board voice.

"So what do we do now?" asks Harold.

"I don't know. We've lost Eren and half of the Regiment is already custody. I can't see any way of getting out of this mess now."

"That's not true," pipes up Armin. "We still have Matthias and Historia. We can still try to fight this."

"I guess that's what the Commander would want us to do isn't it? All right then," Hange pushes herself to her feet, "from this moment forward all members of the Survey Corps who do not wish to turn their back on Humanity are now traitors to the crown. We are starting a coup."

There's silence for a few moments then, "so, how do we do that?" asks Victor.

"IIIIII'm not sure," admits Hange. "First things first, we need to try and find out where they've taken Eren. Does anyone remember anything that might be useful to us in that department?"

"Actually, I think I might," I say. "The scarred man in the long coat said that they were take him to the Fox's Head. I don't know what that means though."

"It's a tavern," says Levi suddenly. "It's in the undercity of Karanese District."

We all look at him in surprise. "How do you know that?" asks Hange.

"Because it's where Bruce Yeager and I used to conduct business from."

"Yeager?!" gasps Armin.

"Yes. I don't know what relation he is to Eren, if indeed he's related to him at all."

"When you say conduct business..." says Hange, with a circular motion of her hand.

Levi sighs. "I mean it was back in the days before I joined the military. Bruce, Isobel, Markus and I were some of the best thugs for hire around about that time. Clients would meet us there and tell us what they wanted done. If they wanted something stolen I was their man, Bruce liked to take care of the rubbing out jobs though. He used to laugh when I refused to do them, called me soft. One day I decided that I'd show him and get in on the latest murder job.

"It was a little higher rate than usual and the client was one rich son of bitch. The job was pretty simple: there was a rising star in the Scout Regiment who was causing too much unrest. We were supposed to shut him up. The client was very particular about how it was done, not such a strange thing our line of work. He wanted it to be done outside of the Walls so it looked like he was eaten by a titan. That meant we needed to enlist and do the job from the inside.

"Normally that kind of thing would take three years of training, but our client pulled some strings and got us in within a year. Of course for a standard job Bruce and I wouldn't have spent a whole year preparing. It was the money; it was ten times better than anything we'd been offered before. If we pulled this one off we'd be rich enough to spend the rest of our lives without lifting a finger. Bruce wanted it because it was more money, I wanted it because it would allow me to get the hell out of that shit hole. It's kind of weird I guess but all I wanted at that point was to be able to find some nice remote spot and spend the rest of my life away from conflict.

"Once we were in the rest of the job seemed simple. We'd both excelled during training so much that we got assigned to the target's personal squad for the next recon mission. We ended up separated from the group and everything was in place to carry out the last part of the mission. Bruce said he'd do it if I didn't have the guts. I told him to shut up and get out of the way. But when the time came, when I was holding the blade against his throat," Levi lets out a sigh, "I couldn't kill Erwin."

"Erwin!" everyone exclaims all at once.

"Yes. Erwin was the target; he'd been making too much noise so some fat pig up at the capital wanted him dead. He'd been rattling on so much about the future Humanity and a soldier's duty that in the end he won me around without even realising he needed to. Bruce told me get of the way and let him finish the job, but I wouldn't let him. We fought in and I gave three presents to remember me by." Levi runs his hand down the side of his face. "I beat him, and I knew right then and there I should kill him. It was what ought to be done, it would be justice for all the blood he had on his hands. But I couldn't even kill him."

The Captain shakes his head. "I hesitated and he stuck me, clean through my right leg. It hasn't been the same since then actually." I flash back to Levi's bad landing during the fight with the Female Titan and the damage to his leg. "He ran off into the wilderness and I never saw him again until today. Part of me hoped he'd died out there, even though I never believed it."

"It sounds like this Bruce Yeager is working for Riess then," says Hange. "And if he is going back to that old hangout of yours, perhaps we can find some answers there."

"That isn't everything though," says Armin. Everyone turns to look at. "You see, I studied the old language for a little while when I was in training, and I recognise the word riess. It means giant."

"Armin," I say, my voice very heavy, "what exactly are you saying?"

"I don't know yet, but I'm beginning to fear for Eren's continued safety. You told us that Reiner and Bertolt said that whoever you were being taken too would probably kill Eren."

"Do you think this Riess character is the one pulling all the strings? The one those two were taking them to?" asks Victor.

"Not as such. Rob Riess couldn't have been the one they were taking them to because from what we can tell he's here inside the Walls. I think there may be a partnership of some kind between an entity outside of the Walls and Riess. It seems like a bit of stretch I know, but when you think about it it does make sense. The factions within the Walls have all been moving towards the same goal that our enemy outside of the Walls has: the acquisition of Eren, Matthias and now Historia. The fact that they both seem to have the same goals and that Rod Riess seems to have been directly affected by the actions of Eren and Matthias's fathers several years ago doesn't seem to me to be a coincidence. I believe that if Riess is not our enemy, then he's being directly controlled by the one who is."

"So what exactly are you saying we should do?" asks Hange.

"We have to find out who Riess is. We need to know what his motives are and why he has such power over the government. We'd need someone from the inside to give us answers for that."

"We can try going through the Wall Cult first. Pastor Nick wouldn't give us anything direct before, but I may be able to at least give me a hint now that things have changed so much. At any rate it's a starting point."

"We should also find some way of going after Riess directly. Perhaps we could try to infiltrate his household, or at least have him shadowed."

"Are we also going to go down to the undercity?" asks Levi.

"Yes of course. I'll put your squad on that Levi; not only have you guys proved to be very capable in a crisis but Matthias and Historia are actually less vulnerable down there. People keep themselves to themselves and aren't likely to be willing to do those up on top any favours."

"Maybe, but they could be bought without too much trouble," cautions Levi.

"That maybe is better than the garantee we have up here. Everyone in every city and town up here is on the lookout for all of you. I want somewhere they can't find you."

"All right then. In the long run what's our overall goal?"

"Either prove our innocence or, depose the king."

"Depose the king!" I splutter. "We can't do that; the nation would fall into anarchy."

"That's why we need to try and keep to Option A if we can." Hange lets out a sigh, stretches then yawns. "Well then, I guess it's time to begin our little uprising."


	16. The Uprising Part 4

Chapter 14: The Uprising Part 4: The Fox's Head

The smell is probably the worst part. The entire undercity stinks of some unwholesome thing no matter where in it you are. Despite the foul smell and the dirty and grime which cover everything, the huge space is certainly impressive. The roof is at least thirty metres above us. The massive caverns that make up the six undercities of the kingdom were made in the time before the Titans. They look natural at first glance with stalactites hanging from some points on the high ceiling and a steadily curving roof. However, we know that they were at some point made by the same great engineers who built the Walls themselves. How exactly we have no idea, but we know that they're man made.

The buildings on either side of us are ramshackle things that in many cases look just about ready to fall down. Some are poorly made screens from the outside environment composed of a few boards and some sort of cloth draped over the top in an effort to block up the holes. There's no rain or strong wind down here of course but the cold is highly prevalent during the night. Right now though it feels hot and stuffy.

People turn their heads to look at us as we pass by. Most just ignore us but some take the time to spit in our general direction. "They know we're from the surface," explains Levi in a voice just about a mutter, "People down here hate that with a passion."

"But we didn't do anything to force them down here," protests Sasha.

"That's not how they see it. Besides, jealousy doesn't need to reasonable; it just needs someone to have something you don't. And we have a lot of things these people don't." Several times small children rush past us, streaming through our small huddle. Though it pains me to see them all clothed in rags and filthy, I carefully steer them away from my belt and pockets. We pass several beggars and I can tell that everyone in the group wishes we had something to give them. But we don't have any money on us, only a loaded pistol, a knife and few basic survival implements.

Our Manoeuvre Gear we had to leave behind. It's not like you can walk through the streets with it on and expect people not to notice you. People down here notice us plenty though, despite our normal civilian clothes. As Levi leads on through the winding streets and deeper into the city, the people become less destitute and more sinister. Many have visible scars and injuries and some have designs tattooed across the sides of their faces. "Gang markers," explains Levi simply.

As we round a particular corner into an even darker part of the city, a group of fifteen or so men step out from the shadows on either side of the winding lane. "All right then, that'll be far enough," says a man at their head who appears to be a leader of some kind. "I want your valuables. Do it quickly and quietly and we'll have no trouble."

"All right then," says Levi, reaching very calmly inside of his cloak and drawing out his pistol which he points at the man's head. "I can't garantee this'll be very quiet when it goes off but it should be pretty quick."

The man turns white, then red with frustration. "Th-that won't be necessary. Have a nice day sir." He and the rest of the group draw back to the alleyways and Levi puts his gun away.

"It's possible we'll be dealing with a few more encounters of that type before long," he says as we continue moving. "The important thing is to remain collected at all times. The only weapons these people are likely to have are knives or improvised equivalents. No firearms of any kind, that means we have the advantage. A quick display like that is usually enough to see them off." So it proves, as we end up being held up three more times. Each time all it takes to scatter the criminals is to display one or more of our weapons.

"All right, here we are," announces Levi with a wave of his arm. The Fox's Head is surprisingly large when compared with the one floor shacks that populate the rest of the undercity. It's two stories tall with two windows on the ground floor facing out into the street. From the outside it looks as if it could house around fifty people on both floors. An old sign board hangs outside, left to hang still by the lack of wind so far underground. I hear Sasha give slight gasp at what's on the sign board. Unlike most inns or taverns on the surface which have a painted decoration of some kind, this one has an actual fox's skull nailed to it, half on one side, half on the other.

"That's disgusting," mutters Jean.

"That's what this place is all about," says Levi. "I don't want to hear a word from any of you once we're inside. I'll handle all of the talking, got it?"

"Yes sir," we all murmur in reply.

"And no one uses the words sir or captain or anything else to do with the Military. As soon as these people find out about that we're as good as dead."

Inside the tavern seems a lot larger than it did before, at least from what my eyes tell me. My other senses say it's far smaller. I'm glad I'm not claustrophobic otherwise this place would probably send me into some kind of fit. The ground floor is composed of a single massive room filled with tables around which sit dozens of men drinking, talking and in several cases playing games of cards or dice. The odour is most certainly not pleasant. At the far end of the room is a bar where a man who looks to be in his mid forties is pouring out beer for one of his customers.

Most people look up when we enter, but lose interest almost immediately. A few watch us intently as Levi strides over to the counter. "You folks get lost at some point?" asks the Barman with a grin I don't much like the look of.

"No, I know exactly where I am Highdale," says Levi, pushing back his hood enough for the man to see his face.

"Good lord," gasps the Barman, "Levi Ackerman, is that you?"

"Yes it is. But I'd appreciate it if you didn't let the entire world know that."

"It's been a long time since I saw you in the Fox's Head. Not since that last job of yours took you away to the surface for a year. Of course, even down here we hear the stories about you. Mankind's strongest warrior huh? Not a title I ever expected you to take to."

"Neither did I. I'm not here to stay for very long, but I'd like to do business with an old friend if that's at all possible."

"I'm sure that can be arranged," says Highdale with a wink. "Why don't you and your young friends take a seat. Table seven's clear right now."

"Thank you," says Levi with a curt nod before leading us over to an out of the way table in a corner. Everyone seems to be on edge except for the Captain. It's almost as if I can feel a sense of oppression and hostility in the air around me. The chairs are uncomfortable but it's better than standing up I suppose. Historia moves to look over her shoulder but Levi stops her. "Don't look," he says very severely. "Do not under any circumstances let them see your unease. They're likely to home in on it like vultures." Historia swallows nervously and nods.

After two minutes of terrible silence and waiting the Barman arrives. "All right then Levi, what sort of business are we thinking of eh?"

"The kind that takes place in private."

"I'm sure the bar will manage without me for a few minutes. Though, this had better be worth my time."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure it's worth your trouble. After all, I'm Humanity's Strongest remember. That counts for a few things here and there."

"Ah, I think I take your meaning. Step right this way." The Barman gestures towards a door at the back of the room.

"You brats wait here," instructs Levi before going, "and try not to cause any trouble while I'm gone." With that he turns on his heel and strides out.

Jean lets out a long whooshing breath. "Involved with the criminal underworld," he mutters, "This wasn't what I had in mind when I signed up three years ago."

"It'll be four years in two months time," points Sasha in an effort to be positive.

"Oh yeah that's right," replies Jean in a sarcastic tone, "it'll have been four wonderful years of running, getting yelled at and almost dying. What wonderful memories to treasure."

Sasha frowns at that but doesn't reply. I let out a slight laugh as I remember something. Armin looks at me questioningly. "Oh nothing," I say, "I just remembered that I'll be sixteen in a week's time. The most important event in a man's life they call it. It doesn't seem so significant now."

"That's right!" exclaims Armin, "I'd completely forgotten. We'll have to do something to celebrate won't we?"

"What celebration are we going to be able to pull off in our circumstances?" asks Jean with a raised eyebrow. "We're outlaws now remember. We may not all even be alive in a week's time."

"Oh come on Jean," says Sasha, "sixteen is the most important birthday in a person's life."

"I know that. I'm just saying that I doubt we'll be able to pull much off in ways of a celebration."

"Eh," I grunt with a shrug, "We can always wait until this mess is over I suppose. What's a few more days right?" The conversation gradually manages to turn to lighter topics and before long we're all chatting away about past events. Of course we're still making sure we keep our voices reasonably low to avoid attracting unwanted attention.

But, about ten minutes after Levi's departure I hear someone moving nearby and I look over. It's a group of six men, all tall with worn clothes. One of them has a dark stain on it that looks disturbingly like blood. They look like they're on their way out of the tavern when one of them notices us glancing over in their direction. He nudges one of his companions and points in our direction. 'Oh no,' I think as I suddenly feel part of me fall into a deep hole.

"Hey now, what do we 'ave here?" asks the first man, a tall thickly built individual with a shaved head. I notice to my mounting concern that he has one of the gang markers intertwined around his left ear. It's a bizarre creature that seems to be half snake half rate with a rat's head sucking on its own reptilian tail.

"Nothing that concerns you," I reply.

"Ho now Jack look here," says his companion, an equally tall but slightly skinnier man with a short beard. He nods in Historia's direction, prompting her to whirl around in her seat face the other direction. "Aw come now missy; let's not be depriving us of such a pretty image," says the man with a laugh, reaching out and grabbing Historia's hood. He pulls it down to reveal her blonde hair and spins her around.

"Aha!" laughs the bald man, "this one is something to behold to be sure."

Before I even properly understand what I'm doing I've pulled my knife and have it pointed at the second man. "Don't touch her," I snarl. Surprised the man lets go and backs off a few steps. Then he shakes himself and grins.

"Now, now, do we have a gallant knight here protecting the poor little damsel?" he says with a sneer.

"Shut up, and piss off," I spit back.

"Hey boys, do ya hear this? This little brat here is telling me to piss off." The group behind him bursts into a mocking laugh. "I don't feel very inclined to, oblige you." The man reaches inside of his coat and draws out what looks like an old sabre. "In fact I'd take this as a true an' proper insult. You lads know how we respond to insults don't you?" The group laughs again. Several of them have now drawn similar weapons from inside their clothes.

Armin nudges me aside. "I apologise for my friend," he says hurriedly, "He's a bit of an idiot sometimes. We don't want to cause any trouble."

"Oh really?" asks the bald man in a mock sincere tone. "Well, I'd just hate to damage such an adorable little thing. You remind me of a mouse."

"Reminds me of a squirrel," says a different one.

"Hmm, I rather like the taste of squirrel roasted," says the man with sabre. His eyes gleam slightly.

Armin turns slightly pale. He swallows and reaches inside the folds of his cloak. He presents his pistol at the man's head. "If you want trouble, we can provide that you know," he says, keeping his voice as level as possible.

"You don't want to do that boy," says the man. "You surface types don't have the stomach for that sort of thing."

Armin bites his lip. 'He's right. Armin isn't about to shoot someone under these circumstances. If it were in the thick of a combat then he might, but not like this.' The man grins and quite calmly pushes Armin's gun to the side.

"Now then, where are you kids hiding that pretty face?"

"Oh for goodness sake," says Ymir, throwing her hands into the air in exasperation. She leans over snatches Armin's pistol out of his hands and promptly shoots the man in the leg. The sound of the gunshot instantly freezes all movement in the room. The man falls to the floor grasping his bleeding limb and groaning. "Now, if the rest of you wouldn't mind minding your own business."

The men are still staring in shock, but slowly they begin to back off. They drag their injured comrade out the door and into the lane outside. Everyone else in the room is left staring at Ymir in shock. "What?" she asks looking at us in genuine confusion.

"You just shot someone and you feel the need to ask that question?" splutters Jean.

"He was threatening us; I think that justifies shooting him," says Ymir with a scowl. "Besides it was only in the leg so he'll live." She thinks about that for a moment and then adds, "Probably."

Then Levi bursts back into the room. "What the hell did I tell before I left not fifteen minutes ago?!" he roars.

"They started it," I protest.

"I don't care who started it! You're supposed to deal with it quietly. That means without a gunshot!"

"He didn't believe we'd actually shoot at him," says Ymir. "In some cases he was right," she adds with a look of disgust in Armin's direction.

"There are more ways to solve a problem than by shooting at it or cutting apart!" Levi sighs and puts a hand to his head. "Oh well it doesn't matter all that much. I've done my 'business' now so I have the information I need to make our next move. We'd best go into a backroom where no one out here can overhear us." Still clearly fuming the Captain leads us all into a small room clearly meant for storing drink as it's full of barrels.

Moving to stand at the end furthest from the door and speaking in a low voice Levi begins. "Yesterday at about this time there was a meet up here between Bruce and several others. They payed to make sure they had access to the top rooms so no one could overhear anything. However, I know that they went out the back shortly afterwards and that they had a large bundle of some kind wrapped up in the back of a cart. Highdale doesn't people to conduct any sort of business around his tavern without at least having some idea what's going on so he arranged to have them followed after they left.

"They seem to have headed for a kind of safe house at the far side of the undercity. With any luck they should still be there. On top of that when they tried to unload said bundle from the wagon and take it inside it began to put up a struggle. Of course Highdale doesn't personally have much of a problem with kidnapping, he's let worse things go through here plenty of times. Still, he doesn't seem to sit easy with some of the people Bruce has been dealing with. That along with the proper persuasion got us enough information to devise our next move."

"So, we go to this safe house place," says Jean, "and then what?"

"For now I just plan on watching. We'll go in for him either when I feel confident enough about the general situation of things, or when they try to move Eren out of there."

"Are you sure you can trust this Highdale?" asks Armin.

"I don't trust him, but I trust his old habits and his love of money. He never sells poor information; that'd put a stain on his good name as a broker of such. I want to move now, before that little ruckus you idiots just made draws unwanted attention to us."


	17. The Uprising Part 5

Chapter 15: The Uprising Part 5: Treacherous Jewel

"Ugh! It's got to be at least midnight by now, when do we get to sleep?" complains Sasha.

"When I say you get to now shut up!" hisses Levi. Sasha groans and slumps down to the ground with her back against the alleyway we've been watching out of for the past five hours. I won't deny I'm pretty sick and tired of standing or sitting in roughly the same place all day. We've deliberately moved around a little, swapping places and pretending to leave to area altogether. That hasn't really provided much relief though. "Matthias," whispers Levi, "I want you to double back around this building and approach this street from the south end. Then turn off at the end and meet up with Armin. See if you can see anything going on inside."

I nod and as quietly as possible I follow his instructions. As I come back out into the streets I walk past the single story brick building we've been watching this entire time. I deliberately avoid looking at it directly but carefully scan the windows for any sign of movement. There's still a light coming from one of them casting the shadows of several people sitting around a table against the drawn blinds. Nothing really worth noticing though, just like the last twenty times the Captain had someone do this. I'm beginning to wonder if his information was really credible after all. With a sigh I slump down behind two worn out crates in the alleyway where Armin is waiting.

"Anything?" he asks, his voice clearly imply he expects the correct answer.

"Not a thing," I reply. "Just like last time, and the time before that, and the time before that. I'm not so sure we're in the right place."

"I guess it's kind of a good thing Mikasa's not here isn't it?"

"How do you mean?" I ask turning to look at my blonde haired friend curiously.

"Well you know her. By this time she would've already stormed the place and given away any sort of pretence of cover we currently have."

"Yes, she really cares about Eren a lot doesn't she?"

Armin nods, "being in love tends to make people do irrational things." He gives me a rather meaning glance at that.

"What?"

"You were far too rash back at the tavern you know. We could've been more diplomatic about getting out of that situation."

"Maybe. Probably. Look I really don't know what I was thinking okay. All I know is that I acted pretty much on instinct as soon as that guy went for Historia."

"You should try to keep your emotions more in check."

"I'm not so sure you have the right to criticise me on that point. You're not in the same position as me."

"There are people I care about in danger as well," protests Armin, though he looks a little uncomfortable as he says it. "But you're right; I don't have anybody like that to worry about. In fact part of me dreads that happening."

"Why?" I ask with genuine astonishment.

"Because watching you, you seem to be messed up all of the time. You're over protective and irrational and so often you don't pay attention to what's going on. Also when I think about how much you fidgeted and were nervous around Historia back when you first met her, I'm not so sure I want to go through that myself. I mean you actually threw up from nerves on the day you decided to ask her out for real!"

I turn slightly red with embarrassment at the memory. "I guess that makes sense. There are a lot of parts about being in this kind of a relationship that aren't all that great, especially in getting to this point. But well, it feels like the good out ways the bad. When Historia and I are together I feel happier than at any other time in my life. There's a sense of peace I get from it. I think that when it comes to it all the negatives are worth enduring for the positives."

Armin raises an eyebrow at that and I can tell he isn't completely convinced. "I'm really not sure if I believe that. I mean, I've fancied girls before but I've never tried to take that anywhere. To be honest I can't see the point; I'm not exactly the most attractive person around."

"Oh come on! There's nothing all that special about me in that department either you know. From what I can tell girls look for more than just good looks."

"I suppose so but- His voice cuts off.

"Armin what is it?" He nods towards the safe house. I get up onto my knees and peer over at the building through the dark. A group of six men have just come out carrying a lantern. The light flickers and sends out a faint yellow aura, revealing the brown jackets, knee high boots and white trousers of soldiers. My mouth falls open as I distinguish the green unicorn symbol on their shoulder patches. "The MPs are here?" I hiss in surprise.

"It looks that way. Now shush, I'm trying to watch." The MPs turn to face a second light source emanating from inside the building. It's difficult to see clearly what's going on because they're surrounding the door and acting a bit like a screen. Two figures come out but I can't see them clearly. Then another man comes out carrying what looks like a smaller person in white shirt with a blind fold over their mouth. The group parts to allow one of the two figures to step through. It's Bruce Yeager, dressed in the same long brown coat we saw him in two days ago.

"All right Levi come on out, I know you're there," he says cheerily. Armin and I hastily duck down behind the boxes. "You and your little group of nursery rejects have been moving around here all afternoon so don't try to make me think you're not here." I can hear him tapping his foot impatiently. "All right then," he says in a far less friendly tone of voice, "we can do this the hard way." He claps his hands together and Armin and I look up just in time to see four figures leap down from the roof tops on either side of us.

"He, he knew all time," gasps Armin. The four figures are all Military Police armed with a pistol in one hand and a sword in the other. They're wearing the same anti-human ODM Gear that the hunters were wearing before. I hurriedly draw both of my weapons, but I know that there's no way we can possibly hope to fight these people. There are four of them against two of us and we don't have our ODM Gear.

From the scuffling noises that precede from all of the nearby alleys it seems that the others have all been ambushed in the same way. "Bring them out here," orders Bruce and the MPs gesture for us to move. Reluctantly Armin and I obey walking out into the exposed road. I look over my shoulder to see that the others are out here as well, with two MPs to every one of us. We're outnumbered worse than two-to-one and we don't have proper weapons. "Ha ha! Looks like I hit pay dirt," laughs Bruce. "Turns out we didn't need you after all Forrae. So much for your oh so impressive skills huh? Which one are you anyway?"

Bruce looks at all our faces curiously. "Oh come on, at least give me a hint will you! I've had to work with you indirectly for the past five years, you might as well tell who you are now that I've done your job for you." No one says anything. Bruce sighs and shakes his head, "sulking is not a very becoming trait Forrae."

"What the hell are you talking about?" spits Levi.

"I want to know which one of these brats is our precious secret weapon. I don't know what name they've been going by these past few years, in fact I don't even know what gender they are; I've never seen them."

"You mean one of us is a traitor?" I ask.

"Very observant this one. Hard to believe someone so stupid could do so much damage." Bruce looks closely at Jean, Ymir, Sasha and Armin. "Look I know it's one of you two so speak up will you!" All four remain silent. "Ach! This is ridiculous! Of fine then, we'll just have to shoot you along with the others and when you don't die then we'll know it's you." Bruce snatches a musket from the waiting MPs and aims it at the four of them. "Where to start? How about you shorty?" he says pointing the musket at Armin.

Armin grimaces. "I'm not a traitor," he hisses, "and I'd rather be dead than let everyone else think I was."

"Very brave aren't you. Or perhaps you're or special little one huh?" he says pointing his weapon at Sasha this time. Sasha shakes her head frantically. "Heh, maybe, maybe not. What about you?" he asks aiming the weapon at Ymir. She scowls back at him defiantly. "That's not a very good way to treat your elders kid. I think I'll do you first." There's a bang and flash as he fires. The shot goes straight through Ymir's middle and embeds in the dirt. Historia lets out a cry as Ymir slumps forwards onto her knees.

Bruce bends over and looks her in the eyes. "Well, anything?" he asks curiously. When Ymir says nothing he grins, "if you are Forrae you'd better start healing now. You lose much more blood and you're not going to make it."

"Oh shut up," hisses Ymir. "Even thought I never had to meet you directly you were always a total bastard." To my amazement she stands up, flicking her hand to send specks of blood all over the dirt path. They evaporate into steam before they reach the ground. White vapour billows out of the wound in Ymir's waist as it quickly heals up.

"Y-Ymir?" asks Historia in a small voice.

"Sorry kiddo, but that's not my real name," says Ymir turning to face her. "My name's Forrae Juvel. I'd like to say that I did actually kind of like you for what it's worth. Oh well, I suppose I shouldn't be so disappointed; it's not like you're going to die or anything. Not that I can say the same for the rest of you."

"You're one of them!" gasps Jean.

"Oh don't lump me in with these filthy idiots," says Forrae haughtily. "In fact don't even try comparing me to those other three numbskulls who went and got themselves caught. I suppose I shouldn't expect anything less from amateurs. I've been at this job for over a hundred years now."

"What? But, but we spent three years together," stammers Historia, "we grew up together."

"Ah that was easy," says Forrae with a wave of her hand. "You don't actually think I look like this do you?" She gestures to her own body with obvious disgust. She shimmers and her skin grows pale, her hair growing out longer and turning an incredibly pale blonde, almost white in colour. Her face becomes far more beautiful and her eyes change to a deep ocean blue. Her height actually increases by a few centimetres, despite the fact that she rather tall already. Instead of being sixteen she looks more like she's in her late twenties.

We all just stare with our mouths open. Forrae looks totally different to how she did less than a second ago. "I'm Forrae Juvel and I'm one hundred and thirty six years old," she says. "Now can we just kill the others and get this over with?" she asks Bruce.

"My pleasure," he says. "But first, I'd like you to admit that it was me not you that got them."

"Oh yeah fine, whatever," says Forrae, somewhat sulkily.

"Can't you do better than that?" asks Bruce with sneer.

"I could always rip out your heart and feed it to you if you'd prefer!"

"Geez, quite the temper eh? All right then let's get this done now that I've had my fun." Bruce returns the borrowed musket to its owner and nods at the MPs behind us. Two behind me and Historia grab us and pull us out of the way. I struggle frantically at my two captors but they've pinned my arms behind me and I can't move.

"All right then, take aim," orders Bruce. The remaining MPs aim their muskets at the others. "Ready and, wait!" exclaims Bruce suddenly. "I almost forgot; I was going to do it myself wasn't I Ackerman?" With a grin in Levi's direction Bruce produces a pistol from an inside pocket of his coat and strides over to him. Levi scowls back at him, his eyes mirrors of pure hatred. "Ah, same old Levi Ackerman; in character right up until the very end," says Bruce, levelling his weapon at Levi's head. He cocks the pistol. "Goodbye Levi, it's been a most unpleasant experience."

Then comes the splitting bang of the gunshot.


	18. The Uprising Part 6

Chapter 16: The Uprising Part 6: The Thorned Titan

Bruce Yeager cries out in pain and clutches at his shoulder as blood begins to well up from the fresh wound. Everyone's gazes are snatched towards the figure standing on the rooftop above us, holding a smoking gun. A grey cloak and hood covers their face, and behind them are twenty six other such figures. "You!" screams Bruce in utter fury.

The figure holsters the pistol beneath his cloak before drawing a second one out with his left hand. This is followed by a long thin bladed sword with a half spherical hilt that arches down over the man's fingers. He raises the points the sword at Bruce and as if it were a silent signal the figures behind him rush forwards. They leap from the building each armed with swords, pistols, muskets, knives and a wide variety of other weapons. One of them is even holding a spear. The MPs are totally disorientated and several of them are cut down.

The rest fall back to the alleyways and open fire. Those with Anti-Personal Gear quickly activate it and move into the air. Suddenly there's an intense fire fight. The first figure holding the thin bladed sword hurries over to me and Historia. He pulls back his hood to reveal long brown hair, gleaming green eyes and a face that defiantly doesn't belong to a man. "You two need to get out of here now," she snaps. "We can hold the MPs off for a few minutes at best but there's not much chance of us actually beating them."

"Wait, who are you?" I gasp.

"My name's Amanda Quinn, I'm your adopted cousin."

"What?!"

"Look there's no time to explain now you need to go!"

"But what about Eren?" asks Historia.

"Don't worry your highness we'll take care of that."

"H-highness?"

"You don't know?" says Amanda, clearly stunned. She shakes her head in frustration, "Oh well, you'll find out later on I suppose. Right now we can't afford to lose you to them. Now you have to move before Forrae comes after you. I can buy you some time on that front."

"What about-

"Less talking, more running!" Amanda pushes us both towards the end of the street. "Get to the surface and make for the village of Eseter. I'll meet you there, now run!" Without checking to see what we do she turns back to the havoc we've just left and charges back in.

I look at Historia in confusion. "What, what do we do?"

"What she says run!" shouts Historia pulling at my arm.

"But what about the others?!"

"We're the ones they're after right? If we leave they're likely to follow now let's go!"

Reluctantly I turn away from the melee and sprint down the lane. Unlike Stohess people aren't flooding out into the streets here. At a few points I see a face peering out into the lane, but they dart back inside as we pass by. 'This probably isn't the first time the locals have been roused by gunfire.' The idea that people could live in such squalid conditions that gang fights and death are normal makes me sick. "If we do manage to pull off a coup," I puff out as we run, "we're going to have to try and fix things down here."

Historia nods but says nothing. At first I think that's just because she's out of breath but when I look again I see her face is contorted with confusion. "What is it?" I pant.

"That girl back there, she called me 'highness'. Why would she do that? Who are my family really?"

"You, you don't think..."

"I don't know what to think anymore. One of my friends turns out to be a woman who's over a hundred years old, my friends are currently in the middle of some sort of battle and I've been just addressed as royalty. Could this day get any more insane?"

Almost as if in answer to her words there's a massive explosion from behind us. I skid to a stop and look back. The last traces of crackling yellow lightning fade away as sixteen metre tall humanoid shape emerges. "Oh dear god," Historia whispers.

"Run, just run for all you're worth dam it!" I scream. We turn back to sprinting as fast and as hard as we can away from the new titan. The sound of giant feet pounding against the ground isn't long in reaching our ears. I can feel the earth tremble beneath my feet and fear tears through my body. 'Oh god, oh god, oh god. There's no way we can out run that thing!' The crashing continues to gain speed and becomes rapidly louder; covering the distance we put between us and it in less than a tenth of the time it took us to make it.

I look up to see a huge dark shape looming over me. The titan stomps right over our heads and comes to a halt in front of us, sending dirt and stone flying up into the air. The new titan is unlike any of those I've seen so far. It's the same height as the Armoured Titan except nowhere near as thickly built. It resembles the Female Titan in some respects but most of its body is covered in a kind of scale version of the Armoured Titan's armour. Sprouting from its back are a series of long spines, and a pair of especially long ones sprout from its forearms just above the wrists. It's hips are slim and woman like but it's chest is flat. It head is truly bizarre, being made up of four quarters that all meet around a central line that's the same position as the mouth. The entire head is devoid of features bar a pair of burning white eyes and a short mop of white hair.

The Thorned Titan stares down at the two of us, some steam still rising from its newly formed body. It cracks its neck and shakes its arms about, like a runner at the start of a race. _"Come on then Sacrifice,"_ I hear Forrae hiss inside my mind. _"I'm going to assume you're not coming quietly."_

'Dam right about that bitch!' I wave to Historia to get back, before sinking my teeth into my right hand. My titan body forms in a bright flash and I'm left standing facing the new enemy. The Thorned Titan is taller than me by a little more than a metre, forcing me to look upwards to make eye contact with her.

 _"I haven't taken on my second form in a few decades so I'm afraid I'm a little rusty. Still, that should help to level the playing field a bit."_ The Thorned Titan opens her mouth and lets out a growl that builds up into a roar and then shriek. She charges forwards, swinging the two long spikes on her arms as blades. I grab her right arm and spin her around me, redirecting her own momentum so that she throws herself into the ground. I'm relieved to see that by this point people aren't hanging around and hoping for the situation to blow over. They're pouring out of their ramshackle houses in droves.

'Sorry to bust up your homes. But if we win this conflict I'm pretty sure we'd have gotten you new ones anyway. If we lose then well, the condition of your houses is going to be the least of your problems.'

I rush the Thorned Titan in the hopes that I might be able to keep the advantage, but she flips back to her feet and nimbly deflects both my blows. She then shoves one of her arm blades into my stomach and pushes me away with her foot. The spike detaches as I'm pushed away, and almost straight away a new one begins to grow. I rip out the one I'm currently impaled by and throw it at her. The Thorned titan calmly swipes it out of the air.

 _"You're not going to win this you know. Just back down now and we can make this end a lot faster with an awful lot less pain."_

'Shut up! You're a lair and traitor the Humanity!'

 _"Ah, that's where you're wrong. I'm on the side of Humanity. I'm re-establishing the balance, which is exactly what you should be trying to do."_

'Balance? What balance is there in this world? We live in a cage, trapped like chickens in their coop, just waiting to be slaughtered.'

 _"But we don't need to be slaughtered. We were safe for the last hundred years, part of which I saw to myself. Then those two stupid idiots Quinn and Yeager had to go and screw everything up! I'd never been so humiliated in all my life as that night. Thankfully I was able to at least remove the stain from my name afterwards."_

'What do you mean?'

 _"Oh I'm sorry; I was under the impression that we were supposed to be fighting."_

The Throned Titan charges forwards and jumps into the air, launching several savage kicks at me which I just barely manage to deflect. She then lands neatly and lands a solid kick on my chest, sending me staggering backwards. I shake myself and try to charge back at her, swinging several times at her head. She easily deflects them however, grabbing my right arm, pulling out straight and twisting it so that the bones and muscles crush and tear each other apart.

With a snarl I rip my arm free and punch her directly in the stomach. The resulting impact makes me wish I hadn't. The blow sends her back several metres, but it pulverises my entire hand and the shockwave dislocates my shoulder. 'What the hell?!'

 _"My armours an awful lot more advanced than that stupid child's is. I've spent years perfecting it."_ To my amazement the scales of the Throned titan's abdomen don't even seem to have been cracked. They simply absorbed and the force and sent it right back up my own arm.

Hastily I reset my left shoulder with my equally battered right arm. Both my limbs are now covered in steam and the Thorned titan hasn't even been scratched. 'She's right; I can't do this. Her armour covers her entirely, even the joints. It's so flexible it doesn't even slightly impede her movements. My blow knocked her backwards but nothing else. I'm not even that skilled in hand-to-hand fighting to begin with, and there's no space down here to move!'

Before I can try to collect my thoughts she attacks again. This time she launches a series of rapid punches at my head, which I manage to dodge with some difficultly. She then brings her knee up into my still healing midsection, sending blood spraying in all directions. I fly backwards and land on my face. I push myself up onto my arms in time to see her looming over me.

I roll to the right in time avoid having my head stepped on. Pushing myself up halfway I leap into the air. I grapple the Throned titan, wrapping my damaged arms around her head hoping my weight combined with the limited fore I was able to summon will be enough to pull her over. It isn't.

She staggers a few steps but the right herself. She then tears me off of her head and hurls me into the ground. My spine breaks on impact along with the back of my skull. I try to sit up but my body's been so badly damaged it's impossible. _"That was a good effort there. If I'd been anyone else bar our bestial friend it might have actually worked. But you're forgetting, I'm not just any titan shifter, I'm the first titan shifter!"_

'Got quite the ego there it seems,' I manage.

 _"I prefer to think of it as well deserved pride. Now, it's time we took a little trip. It'll be easier if you can't do anything while we do."_ Her foot comes smashing down on my face, pulverising what's left of my head. Everything goes black as my eye sight fails. I try to get my body to move but some much of its nervous system has been destroyed that it can barely manage more than a twitch. I can feel myself being rolled over. There's a searing pain at the back of my neck and then light rushes into my vision.

I'm ripped out of the titan carcass by a massive hand. I try to struggle but of course it avails nothing. The Thorned titan holds me in front of her two metre tall head. I suddenly find myself overcome by a terrible fear as those white eyes burn into me. The Thorned titan opens her jaws wide, the hinge extending right to the very back of her skull. The last thing I see before blackness washes over me is a giant set of teeth closing, from the wrong side.

When I come to my hands and feet around bound and there's a kind metal apparatus been shoved into my mouth. I can't open my mouth at all and I can barely move my tongue. In fact I pretty much can't move anything. I've been woken by a rush of light as I'm lifted up out of some sort of box. I'm dropped rather roughly on a stone floor and I try to look around in the disorientating light. The walls seem to be made of stone just like the floor. It's a strange bright white stone, like the kind the Walls are made from. I'm hoisted to my feet by a man wearing a Military Police uniform. Since my feet around bound I can't stand and he has to hold me up. He grunts in annoyance before slinging me over his shoulder.

I kick and struggle frantically. Then the sight I see over his shoulder shuts me up. Eren is being pulled out of a similar box by two more MPs. But that's not what stuns me so much. A man in his early fifties with a balding head and wearing a simple black suit is holding Historia tightly in his arms. To my amazement it looks like he's crying.

I don't get the chance to see any more before I'm carried out of the room. I watch as Eren is picked up in the same way and we head down a staircase of the same white stone. We come out into a wide empty room held up by white columns of exactly the same white stone. This entire building seems to be made of the stuff. The roof is about twenty metres above us and everything gleams with deposits of some sort of crystalline substance.

I'm thrown roughly against the floor by the man carrying me, who promptly proceeds to undo my restraints and fasten me onto a table. My wrists and ankles are shackled to the corners so that I can't move. I'm splayed out like a frog about to be dissected in an anatomy lesson. I can turn my head from side to side though, even if my speech is prevented by the metal apparatus.

Eren is taken up onto a dais where he's forced to his knees and has his hands chained to metal poles at either corner. He has a similar piece of metal shoved into his own mouth. To my surprise the MP rips off his shirt, leaving his bare skin exposed. I'm thankful they don't seem to feel the need to do the same to me, as it feels cold enough down here with my shirt on. I look over the other way to see Historia being led by the hand by the older man in the suit.

I try to shout at him to leave her alone, but all I manage is a kind of distorted grunt. Historia looks both afraid and confused at the same time. The two of them stop a few steps away from where I've been tied down. The man dismisses the two MPs who hurry off to the far end of the huge room. In fact, looking at it from further inside it looks a lot more like a cave than anything else.

"No doubt you are all wondering what's going on here," says the man.

'Dam right I am!'

"I would prefer if you would keep a civil tongue inside of your mind young man," he says giving me a cold eye.

'You, you heard me?'

"Of course I did. You're being rather voluble it would be difficult for me not to. Now, if you don't mind I'll explain the situation."

He sighs, "My name is Roderick Riess and I'm one of the last three surviving members of that family. From what I can tell you've all been wondering what exactly is so special about this particular family. It is the fact that we are the true royal family. We were the kings and queens before the Titans came, and we still hold all the true power in this realm, even if we now act from behind the scenes.

"This power is not merely power through wealth and possession; it is the power of the Titans. The eldest of the Riess household has always held the power of the Titans in themselves, up until seven years ago, when it was stolen and my family slaughtered." Rod Riess stops for a moment and put his hands over his eyes. When he withdraws them there are the traces of tears on his cheeks. "Right now there are only two Riesses alive besides myself. Only one of those is eligible to become the next ruler, and that is you my dear daughter." Rod Riess turns to look lovingly at Historia as he says this.

Historia still looks incredibly confused. I can't say I'm much less confused. 'Who's the other one?' I think directly at Riess.

"It's rather ironic that you should ask that question," says Riess. "In fact, that other is you. You are the third and by far the oldest Riess currently alive."

'What? That's impossible!'

"I assure it's true. Your real name, Matthias Quinn, is Edmund Riess. You have survived down the ages, much like two others you have met."

"You mean Forrae?" asks Historia.

"Yes, Forrae. She was assigned as the Riess family's personal protector one hundred and seven years ago."

"Protector?" comes the indignant voice of Forrae from some place outside of my field of vision. "More like a glorified lapdog."

Ignoring the interruption Riess continues. "The other I speak of is Grisha Yeager. And it is because of that man's actions that we are all here now." I look over at Eren who's staring at Rod Riess in shock. "Seven years ago Grisha Yeager along with Andrew Quinn attacked myself and my family while we were in our private chapel. He assumed his titan form, ripped open the roof and killed my entire family. He stole the power from my beloved daughter by devouring her whole and then escaped into the night, leaving me alone."

Eren shakes his head frantically in denial of this. "It is true. That power you posses Eren, it isn't yours he passed it on to you five years ago, the only way a titan power can passed on." Eren's pupils dilate and he suddenly has a strange kind of spasm. Suddenly, through the mental link we share a series of images rush to me from Eren. His father injecting him with a needle and the world vanishing in a brilliant flash. The perspective changes to Grisha's as Eren's titan form looms over him, smaller than usual but still at least ten metres in height. Its eyes gleam in the pale light of the moon as it lunges towards him, jaws open wide.


	19. The Uprising Part 7

Chapter 17: The Uprising Part 7: The Riess Family

As the visual link fades, I can see Eren staring blankly at the floor. He shakes his head slightly, but then hangs it low as if confessing to a crime. "Yes," says Riess, "I'm afraid it's true. Your father wanted the power for himself, so he attacked us when we were all together and killed every one of them. I saw him crush my daughters under his foot and saw my son pulverised against the walls. My wife was crushed by a falling rock. And my eldest daughter Frieda, was eaten alive."

At the name Frieda, Historia suddenly turns pale. "I, I know that name," she stammers, "Why, why did I forget it? Why did I forget her?"

Rod Riess places a comforting hand on her shoulder. "For your own safety, it's likely Frieda erased your memories of her."

"Erased?"

"That is one of the aspects of the power of the Coordinate. Not only does it give the bearer the power to transform into a titan themselves, but it also allows control over the minds of both humans and titans."

'What?!'

"What?!"

"I myself have been subject to the influence of this power so I only so much. A hundred years ago the First King created the Walls by using his titan abilities. He was far more powerful than any titan or person alive today. Not only did he create the Walls but he influenced the minds of those living within them, so that they would not remember how they came to be within the Walls, or how the Titans themselves came to be. That is, with some exceptions."

'Exceptions?'

"Most people within the Walls are all descended from a central blood strain. They are all of a certain race you see. However, there are some within the Walls who are from one of the five old families from beyond the Walls that are resistant to the control of Coordinate. These families all came from far off lands, though over time they have mingled with our own population and are now almost indistinguishable from the others."

"Not all of us," says Forrae with a clear note of pride in her voice.

"So, who are these families?" asks Historia. Her voice implies she's still somewhat dazed and overwhelmed by all of the new information. She keeps asking anyway.

"By this point you're familiar with all of them. The Ackerman family come from the Far East, beyond all semblance of knowledge we currently have of the world outside. The Yeager Family is an interesting exception since they are actually from within the same race as the others, thought do originated in the south. The Quinn Family are from an island in the North West, the Juvel Family from an ice covered land in the far north and the Leonhart Family from somewhere far to the south. The descendants from these five families are the only ones able to make use of titan abilities and it is traditional for the knowledge that the families hold to be passed down each generation.

"From what I can tell that practice has grown somewhat lax. Sometimes by design, sometimes by accident. Never the less the amount of knowledge the old families posses has greatly decreased over a century of peace."

"I still don't understand," says Historia, putting a hand to her head. "What is all of this about? Why did you kidnap us?"

Rod Riess sighs. "I didn't want to have to resort to such extreme measures but there was no other way to get you and Eren here. Understand me Historia; I never wanted any of this to happen. You are the heir to the Coordinate power, the rightful heir. The destruction of Wall Maria only occurred because the balance had been tipped and the Riess Family no longer had the power. If it is returned to us then it can be used to force the Titans to abandon Wall Maria and we will have peace again."

'If it's the Coordinate that controls the Titans, why can't Eren just do it?' I ask suspiciously. He doesn't seem to be lying, but there is some kind of deception going on, I just can't tell what it is.

"Because, Eren is not a Riess. The Coordinate power was fashioned to be used only by the Riess family, anyone from outside of the family cannot utilise its full potential. Besides, it isn't just a matter of removing the Titans and stoppering the Wall. It was laid down a hundred years ago that it should be the Riess Family who hold the power, and no other. He won't have it any other way. If you were to retake the Walls he would simply knock them down again."

"Who's he?" asks Historia. Her eyes seem to be alive with apprehension and confusion. I can feel panic emanating from her as well, coming off in waves.

"I don't really know," admits Rod Riess with a shake of his bald head. "My brother and my daughter called him the First King."

"But, but the first king would be long dead after all of these years."

"I doubt they were being literal. Although, there's really no way to be sure. There's only one person alive who knows exactly who and what he is, and she isn't willing to divulge any information."

"You already know all you need to Riess," snaps Forrae. "I'm under orders from someone far more powerful than you."

Riess grunts irritably. "The point is, the balance has been upset and it needs to be restored. Historia, you need to reclaim the power and become Queen. I can't do it myself; I'm far too old by this point to have any heir to pass it onto besides you. You are the only one who can do it, the only one who can stop this carnage."

'He isn't lying! He's, he's really telling the truth!'

Historia swallows nervously and looks up at her father. "How?" she asks cautiously.

Rod Riess smiles and reaches inside of his suit jacket. He takes out a small rectangular wooden box. He opens it to reveal four glass cylinders containing a pale green fluid, and a syringe with which to inject them. "A dose of this will transform an individual into a titan. Once transformed they will be a regular titan until they consume someone with the ability to titan shift. At that point they will gain full control over their mind and will be able to revert back to their true form."

"You, you want me to, to," Historia breaks off, putting a hand over her mouth as she realises fully just what she's being asked to do. "You want me to eat him!"

"I'm sorry, it's the only way."

'Dear god, he's still not lying!'

"Forrae, finish preparing the boy for the ceremony," order Riess pointing at Eren. Forrae enters my field of vision, dressed now in a set of simple black clothes with a red trim around the edges. Pulling a knife out from a sheath at her belt she cuts a shallow line across Eren's forehead. Blood begins to trickle down into his eyes. She then bends down and removes the metal gag from his mouth. Eren gasps slightly as she does so.

I look back at Historia. She's shut her eyes and has her head angled down towards the gleaming white floor. "I, I can't," she whispers.

"Historia," says Eren firmly. "Do it."

"What?!" she shrieks. "You can't actually want me to do that can you?"

"Yes I can! I was never important, it was all a lie! All those people who died to the Titans: Thomas, Nac, Mina, Marco, Petra, Oluo, Eld, Gunther, Hannes. My own mother! He killed them; my father killed all of them! He took away the one thing that could have allowed us to beat them because he was a filthy, greedy, bastard. Then he stuck it me and killed himself in the process. We need to fix this Historia, and the only way we can do that is if you take this power back. You can defeat them, drive them all out. That's the one thing I always wanted so please, do it!"

"I, I, I..."

'Historia!' I scream at her mentally. She snaps her head up and looks at me. 'Historia I'm sorry but he's right. I know when people lie, and your father isn't. This is the only way to fix things. I'm sorry but you have to do this.'

"But I can't!" she screams at me. "I can't just kill Eren! And what about, wait a second," she spins around to look at her father. "What do you even need Matthias for?"

"Edmund?" asks Riess, who's now holding a full syringe of the green liquid. "He is as much a part of this disturbance as Eren is. He was never meant to return to human form, never meant to grow up, never meant to be here. The balance must be reset, and for that he must die. His power to detect the truth and read the minds of others is also an ability that would be best placed in the hands of the rightful ruler, where it can be used to the greatest effect."

"You can't be serious! You want me to eat him as well?!"

Riess sighs, "I know it must be difficult for you to understand Historia, but after you have regained the Coordinate power, you will see."

"What will I see? The reason to kill the person I love!"

Rod Riess freezes. "What do you mean?" he asks, his voice going hollow.

"I won't kill Matthias, not for anything. I love him!"

'Historia don't be stupid!' I snap. She turns around to look at me. 'I'm just another piece of the puzzle that doesn't fit anywhere. Besides, it's just like Reiner said back when Eren and I were captured; I was the one that caused all of this. It's rather fitting that I should die to try and help put it right. If you can reclaim the Titan powers then you can retake Wall Maria within seconds. And there won't be any reason to stop there; you can go all the way and retake the entire world from them! Don't throw all that away just because of some fleeting romance.'

"Fleeting romance!" she exclaims. "How can you say that?"

'Because that's all it can be! You have to do this thing!'

"Yes, he's right!" cries out Eren from the dais. "You need to make things right again. Take the injection, restore the balance of power!"

'Bring back the world that we destroyed. Fix all of the damage that we've done.'

Historia trembles, tears running down her cheeks. Without a single word she holds out her hand to her father, and he slips the syringe into her palm. Her fingers close around it and she holds it in front of her, staring at the green liquid as if it were the end of the world made manifest. She brings the needle down so that it's touching the bare skin of her forearm. Then she stops. "There's something I want to know first," she says, her voice very grave. "Why do suddenly care about me so much, father?"

"I don't understand," says Rod Riess, and a bitter taste floods into my mouth as he lies.

"I think you do," says Historia, turning around and holding the needle by her side. "When I was growing up you wouldn't have anything to do with me. The only one who ever came to see me was Frieda. That night you told me to change my name, you said that my mother was of no further use to you. You seemed upset about that, but not as if you were losing someone you loved, more like a tool that a craftsman has become accustomed to using. You never loved her, and up until now you never did anything to imply that you loved me.

"I think I understand your words that night far better now. I was valuable only because I was Riess, the fact that I was your daughter had nothing to do with it. You sent me away to keep your life simple. Of course since I was such a valuable commodity you couldn't afford to let me be wasted in the jaws of a titan, so you had Forrae create the persona of Ymir to look after me. She always had my back in every situation, even though that clashed so much with her personality. Now you want me back because I'm old enough to do the job you wanted me for in the first place.

"And there's another thing," she continues, cutting of Rod Riess as he opens his mouth to reply. "If the power of the Coordinate allows a Riess to control the Titans and vanquish them, then why did none of the previous kings or queens try to do it?"

A shadow falls of the face of Roderick Riess. Up until now he'd maintained the appearance of a man compelled to take action. Now he just looks like a man driven deep into grief and regret. "You're very observant Historia, just like your mother always was. I did like her an awful lot you know. Having her killed was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. The word was that the enemy was on the move now that Grisha Yeager had the Coordinate power. The El-Ekar were gathering for a strike against us. They most likely wanted to find and kill you. We couldn't allow that to happen so we sent you somewhere they'd never think to look for you.

"But then you went and revealed your identity. The El-Ekar began swarming around in their hundreds in the underworld and we knew it wouldn't be long before they found you. So, we had to move first to secure you. You matter to me Historia; you are the last family I have left."

Historia's expression doesn't change. Her gaze is stone cold, hollow and vindictive. "You didn't answer my second question," she says. "Why has no one ever tried to defeat the Titans before using the Coordinate power?"

Riess looks rather nervous now. "Because, every one of the previous holders of the power hasn't wanted to."

"What? How could they not want to?!" bursts out Eren.

"Because the will of the First King is imposed on every Riess who has the power. Before my brother took it on we both talked about how he'd use it to change everything, defeat the Titans and set things right. But after the ceremony was over he'd changed. The First King desired a world where Mankind bowed down to the rule of the Titans. He didn't want us to defeat them, he didn't want us to go beyond the Walls. That wish is imposed on every Riess as soon as they take on the Coordinate power."

'That's why Grisha stole it!' I exclaim. 'Because he knew that he would be immune to the First King's will. He thought he might be able to defeat the Titans himself.'

"So, if I do this," says Historia, "I won't want to defeat the Titans. I'll just reclaim Wall Maria alter everyone's memories and we'll all just keep on crouching inside of this cage."

"If you don't then the balance will never be restored. Mankind will be attacked again and again, and eventually they will break through. All of Humanity will be devoured and the Titans will be the only living things in existence."

"What you're saying is that we don't have any choice about how we live. It doesn't matter how hard people like the Scouts try, we'll never be able to beat them? That in the end we're all just like livestock trapped inside of our pen, and if we try to get out we let in the wolves?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. It's tragic I know, but it's already far too late. All the hope of mankind vanished the day the Titans came. The day that boy decided that he didn't want to die." Riess finishes with a look of pure hatred in my direction.

"There's no hope for the future, only sitting where we are is that it? The world has fallen and all we can do is accept it?" Historia scowls. "No, I won't believe that. Mankind isn't destined to spend the rest of its life hiding behind Walls. It doesn't matter who the First King is or how he's opposing us; we are going to defeat him. I believe that despair is for people who know without a doubt what the future holds, and none of us are in that position. We don't have the right to despair; we don't have the right to give up. Humanity's future lies outside the Walls and I'm going to help clear the way. As long as one of us can say that, then this isn't over!"

Before any of us can say anything the sound of an explosion rips into the chamber.


	20. The Uprising Part 8

Chapter 18: The Uprising Part 8: Rescue

"What's going on?" demands Riess.

"How the hell should I know?" snaps Forrae. "Hey, hey you useless human get over here!" There's the sound of running feet on the white stone floor. "What the hell's going on?"

"We're under attack!" says a woman's voice. "They pushed some kind of bomb down the stairs and the whole room's filling with smoke."

"Who? Who's attacking us?"

"It looks like the soldiers from the Survey Corps, but the El-Ekar are with them as well!"

"Dam that stupid bitch and her rebels! I told you we should have killed them Riess!"

"Once the power is restored they will not be able to hinder us!" protests Rod Riess.

"Well in case you hadn't noticed, your sweet daughter isn't keen on that."

"Just get up there and stop them dam it!"

"How? There's not enough room in here to transform; I'd just end up knocking out the supports and cause the roof to collapse."

"You've been trained as a soldier six times throughout your life! Surely you're capable of fighting without your titan body?"

"Ugh, I can't believe I'm sworn to protect you fat pig!" Forrae runs off towards the far end of the chamber where I can hear the sounds of gunfire and the occasional cry of an injured combatant. Rod Riess turns back to his daughter. "Historia, there's no time left! You need to change and you need to do it now!"

"Why should I?" demands Historia. "Humanity can never get anywhere if we maintain this balance. We'll be trapped inside of these walls for the rest of our pathetic existence. It might be easier but it won't ever lead to anything! Most people are content to spend their entire lives without knowing anymore than what's offered to them. I admit I used to be one of those people, but I've seen that there are things worth knowing, places worth seeing, things worth having! We can never achieve that without taking the harder path; without making the sacrifice necessary. Yes people have died, and yes people will die, but in the end it will be for the greater good of Humanity. That is something I can't be dissuaded from."

Historia raises her arm as if to throw the needle and its contents to the floor. "No!" cries Riess, leaping forwards and grabbing her by the arm. "This must be done!" he shouts passionately. "There is no other way to ensure our safety!"

"Get off of me!" screams Historia, kicking her father's legs out from under him. She tries once again to dispose of the serum, but Riess grabs at her and pulls her down to the floor, causing the syringe to roll loose.

I'm pulling frantically at my restraints, but all I'm able to do is cut into my own wrists and ankles. I glance over at Eren. To my surprise he's just hanging limply from his bindings. 'Eren! Eren can you hear me?'

 _"Yeah, I can hear you."_ Even in my mind his voice sounds drained and despondent.

'Eren, you have to try and get free. Your restraints are as secure as mine are.'

 _"Why? What's the point? Mankind doesn't need me, I shouldn't even be here."_

'Look I know this is going to sound ridiculous but I knew your father better than you might think. I don't know why but I'm certain he'd never try to steal the Coordinate power just for his own ends. More than that I knew my own father as well. He might have had his faults yes, but he wouldn't be party to something like that if it weren't absolutely necessary. We need to trust that they knew what they were doing!'

Eren doesn't reply. Angrily I tug at my restraints further, without success.

Historia is scrabbling on the ground, trying to stop her father from getting at the serum. While she's had proper combat training and would probably be a good deal fitter than him, she's a lot smaller. Using that to his advantage Riess throws her off and leaps forwards, grabbing the syringe. He turns to face his daughter with a look of disappointment but determination. "I'm sorry you weren't willing to do this on your own Historia, I really am."

"Go to hell!" she screams back from her place on the floor. Riess rushes her and attempts to hold her down. Planting both feet against his stomach Historia shoves him off with her legs. He rushes at her again, trying to shove the needle into her arm. She smashes her elbow down onto the back of his neck and kicks him in the groin. Rod Riess grunts and slips down to the floor, keeping a hold of her arm. Before Historia can pull away, her jams the needle into her exposed forearm and injects her. "No!" Historia screams as a brilliant yellow blast emanates from her, sending her father backwards into a roll.

The titan condenses into the air. Various strands of skin, muscle and bone rip into existence. The nape closes over Historia's still struggling form as the last stages of transformation are completed. The new titan crouches on the floor of the cave, long blonde hair hanging down over its face. Its body trembles and several faint yaps escape from between its jaws. Then it throws back its head and rearing up to its full height of thirteen metres screams.

The screech is almost exactly like the Female Titan's, except that I'm hearing this one up close. The immense wave of noise makes me want to desperately clamp my hands over my ears, except I can't move them. Rod Riess looks up at the new titan with a look of relief and delight on his eyes. "Yes!" he cries jubilantly. "At last the balance shall be restored!"

Historia's titan does resemble her somewhat, in that it has hair just like hers and the eyes are the same colour. Even the shape of its head is somewhat reminiscent of her. It's also heavily athletic like all of the shifted titans have been so far. I suppose a weak titan isn't much use to anybody. The titan sniffs the air and turns to look at Eren's chained down form. I suddenly realise what the cut on his forehead is for; the new titan can smell the blood.

Historia clearly has no control over the creature as it strides towards Eren. He looks up at it with a resigned look, as if he's already accepted his fate. The titan reaches down and grabbing Eren pulls him up from the ground, ripping his chains up from the stone they're anchored to. The titan snaps both chains off and holds Eren in front of it. 'Historia stop! Don't do it!' The titan opens its jaws and moves Eren forwards.

The titan clamps down its jaws over Eren's middle. Blood spurts into the air as it bites through his waist and severs his legs. Eren screams in pain as the titan swallows his lower body, blood trickly down its chin. The titan opens its mouth wide and prepares to drop Eren down into its gapping maw.

There's a whirring noise and a pronounced zip as a figure flies into my field of vision. Dressed in a purple hooded cloak and using ODM Gear, the figure slices neatly through the titan's fingers. Eren's half body falls backwards towards the floor, only to be caught by the new figure and lowered carefully to the ground. As the figure turns to look in my direction I recognise the girl from the undercity, Amanda Quinn.

The titan snarls and reaches down again for Eren, only to withdraw its hand with a hiss and a rush of steam. Out of the smoke gathering at the far end of the room come flying three figures, two of them green cloaked Scouts and the third dressed in a black full length hooded tunic. The lead Scout rushes in and neatly cuts the titan's Achilles tendons, causing it to fall forwards onto the floor. Amanda dives out of the way, dragging Eren with her. Steam is billowing from Eren's torn middle, but blood still oozes out onto the floor.

The second Scout rushes over to me while the figure in black hurries over to Amanda's side. I recognise Captain Hange as she reaches me and bends over to locks on my feet. "Sorry we're late," she says, "I don't suppose you mind filling us in on the part we missed?"

"It's quite a lot to fill you in on," I say, sitting up and rubbing my ankles. "For now all you need to know is that that titan is Historia and that she has no control over herself. She's going to be focused on eating Eren and we can't let her do it."

"What?" Hange looks at the titan in surprise. "Jeez, I knew that everyone had their bad side but she has the second worst one I've ever seen!"

"Second worst?"

"Don't ask." Hange rushes back towards the titan waving her arms. "Hey Levi, don't kill it! That's Historia!"

The First Scout (apparently Captain Levi) pulls up short and slides neatly across the floor. "What? How's that possible?" he snaps.

"No idea, but Matthias says that's what's going on so for now we focus on containing her all right?"

"Okay. If you want to explain how we do that I'm open to suggestions."

"For now just keep cutting her tendons. It'll probably hurt but I'm afraid we'll just have to hope she doesn't have us executed once we get her on the throne."

"Wait," I say, looking at Hange in surprise, "you know she's the heir to the throne?"

"According to our stylish friend in purple over there she is," says Hange, pointing in Amanda's direction. "And I'd say her information is pretty good; she's the one who told us how to get here."

"But, how?" I ask. My head is whirling with confused thoughts and my ankles and wrists feel like they're on fire.

"We can swap explanations later, for now let's focus on trying to get our favourite future monarch back into human form. Do you think you can communicate with her using your abilities?"

I shrug. "No idea, she didn't make any response before but I can try." I draw in a deep breath and concentrate on Historia as hard as I can. 'Historia, Historia can you hear me?' The titan grunts slightly at that, letting out a snarl. I can hear a faint whisper, but nothing else. 'Historia, I know you're there and I know you can hear me. Concentrate on me and think in my direction as hard as you can.'

The whispering grows louder and more coherent. Eventually I hear a voice inside my mind, very faint and far away. _"I can hear you,"_ it says. _"I can't do anything though. This thing won't let me move myself!"_

'I need you to stay calm. Try to focus on something that you can use as an anchor point. Some sort of thought or image or memory that's important to you. Try to pull yourself through with that.'

 _"Pull myself through? Matthias you're not making any sense!"_

'Yeah, this kind of thing doesn't make any sense I know. Just try and focus on something and use that to in turn focus on who you are. You have to assert your will over that of the titan.'

The titan grunts and splutters, its limbs kicking wildly as it tries to move. Levi quickly cuts through its spinal cord, immobilising it from the shoulders down. _"I, I can't do it!"_ gasps Historia. Her voice sound panicky and I'm afraid that she may be about to lose even the ability to communicate with me.

'You can! You already have in fact. You're able to talk to me, which means that you're conscious. That means you can fight this thing all right?'

 _"But I can't! My mind feels like it's being stood on and I can't think clearly! Matthias, I'm losing!"_ The titan roars and kicks with its legs, cracking one of the pillars that hold up the ceiling.

"We can't let her move around in here!" shouts Hange. "If she carries on like this the whole roof will cave in!"

 _"Matthias, I can't do this I..."_ Historia's voice trails off into the faint whisperings of an ordinary titan.

"Dam it! I lost her," I say turning to face Hange.

"There's nothing else you can do?" she asks.

"Well, I do have one more idea. I think if I transform it may amplify my powers."

"All right then give it a shot. Just try not to knock down any more pillars. If you do it's likely the entire ceiling will down on us."

"Got it." I sink my teeth into my hand and the familiar rush of transforming circuits through me. I shake myself internally as the thin veil of steam drifts out of my vision. I bend over next to the struggling titan and grab its head with both hands. I forcibly turn its face towards me and stare into its eyes. What I do next I do completely on instinct. I feel a searing pain building up on my forehead, as if I were being burned. Then there's a flash and red beam of light crosses between me and Historia's titan. I can see it reflected in the titan's eyes, so bright that I can't bear to look up at it. 'Well, at least we know what the black disk is for,' I think to myself as a white light washes over me.

As it clears I find myself standing in an empty black space. Then, an image appears far off in the distance. It begins to grow steadily larger as it rushes towards me. The image grows larger and large until it reaches full size and is right in front of me. Historia is on her knees with both of her hands pressed against her head. Looming over her is the titan from the cave. It's smaller than before at only five or so metres tall, but it still dwarfs either of us.

The titan looks up at me with a leering grin, saliva and blood running down its chin. I hear a growl from behind me, and turn to see my titan standing tall at six metres. Strangely, I don't feel the usual sort of disgust at its presence, rather a strange kind of comfort in the knowledge that it's there. It's my titan and it's on my side.

I stare into the eyes of Historia's titan, feeling hatred welling up inside of me. "Let her go," I tell it in the most commanding voice I can manage. The titan shakes its head slowly. "Let her go or I will make you."

"We, not, yours," grunts the titan. "Can't, make, us, do, anything."

"Maybe I can't, but he can," I say, pointing a thumb over my shoulder at my giant companion.

My titan growls deeply, as if in anticipation. "Yes, we could," it agrees. "He, Giant's Blood. He, has, authority."

"Mine, Giant's Blood, as well," says the other. "She, give me, authority, for, myself."

"I, stronger," points out my titan. "Much older. I, break, you."

"No," says Historia's titan with a shake of the head.

"Yes."

"No!"

"YES!"

"Take her!" I cry. With a howl my titan leaps forwards and tackles Historia's titan to the ground. I dash forwards and pull Historia away from the two struggling figures. "Historia, Historia wake up! Listen to my voice, follow it! I need you to come back to me right now!" She doesn't move. Her eyes are closed and she feels frighteningly cold. "Historia please," I say, hugging her close to my chest. "You have to come back!"

My titan has its enemy pinned to the ground. The younger roars defiantly up at its opponent's face. With a savage snarl my titan lunges forwards and sinks its teeth into its enemy's throat. Historia's titan jerks several times, and then lies still. My titan looks up at me with blood staining its teeth. Almost like a small child realising he has food on his face he hastily wipes his jaws clean. "I won," it says simply.

I nod. "I suppose you did. Why won't she wake up?"

The titan shrugs. "Lost."

I sigh. "Does that mean she's dead?"

The titan shakes its head. "No, dead. Lost."

"How do I find her then?"

"Don't, know. She, Giant's Blood. Very special."

"Yes," I say, stroking her forehead. "Yes she is." I lean forwards and kiss her on the forehead. "Historia, please find me. I don't want to be alone again. I love you."

The world vanishes again in a rush of white light and I'm still holding onto the titan's head. However, steam has begun to rise from its flesh and I can see a small shape jutting out from its nape. Gently I lower the corpse to the ground and snap out of my own titan body. Sliding carefully down the tall back, I hurry around to the front. I pause on the way and look up at the huge face. "Thanks big guy," I say, patting its knee.

I scramble up the side of Historia's titan until I reach the nape. Historia is leaning out of the sticky mess at the back of the neck. I wrap my arms around her and with some difficultly I rip her free. I carefully carry her down to the ground and away from the steaming heap. I put my fingers under her chin and check for a pulse, my own racing. I heave a sigh of relief as I feel a steady thump under my fingers.

"Historia?" I ask, gently brushing at the hair around her face.

She lets out a faint moan, and her eyes flicker open. "Matthias? I'm not sure I like being a titan shifter very much."

"Yeah, first time's pretty rough isn't it?"

"Uhuh," she mumbles groggily. "I didn't liked her very much," she says, pointing over my shoulder to the black smoking body. "She was a real bitch."

I laugh quietly at that. "A Queen shouldn't swear now should she?"

"And a prince isn't supposed to beat up a girl," she counters with a smile.

I shrug. "Like you said, she was a real bitch."

Hange runs over to us, breaking the atmosphere of the moment. "Historia, uh, I mean sir, or now wait, your majesty!" she says, fumbling over the correct form of address.

"Historia's fine Captain," says Historia, pushing herself up into a sitting position.

"You're all right then? Nothing broken or anything like that?"

"I don't think so. I feel a little dizzy, and pretty tired. Apart from that I'm okay."

Hange's next words are cut off by a cry from across the room. "No! You fools you've destroyed everything!" shouts Rod Riess. He looks like a man in despair, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Levi walks over to him. "You, sir, have a lot to answer for from what I can tell," he says with a scowl. "I'm going to enjoy ensuring that you answer for all of it."

"Ignorant fool!" spits Riess. "You filthy descendant of an eastern rat!"

"I beg your pardon?" Levi levels his blade against Riess's neck. "Would you care to repeat that?"

Riess grinds his teeth, staring at the Captain with fuming hatred. The smoke is clearing and I can see groups of MPs wearing Anti-Personal Manoeuvre Gear being backed into corners by a combined force of Scouts and various men and women in civilian clothes. "We have your leader in custody!" calls out Hange cheerfully. "There's no more point fighting so might as well surrender!"

The MPs exchange glances nervously, but then lay down their weapons and unbuckle their gear. They're herded into groups with their hands up. Captain Hange turns to me with a broad smile, "by midday tomorrow the entire Kingdom is going to know about this. We've arranged a contact with one of the major news printing companies and they'll be more than happy to write this one up all over the place."

"I'd say that the Coup is nearly over," says Levi, walking up one of his swords rested casually on one shoulder. "All that remains is to put forwards Historia's rightful claim to the throne and the current government will have no choice but to back down."

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Rod Riess fiddling with something. I turn my head to look properly. I only just have enough time to call out a warning as I see him slam one of the needles into his arm. There's a truly colossal flash of light, and as it fades somewhat, I can see a spine exploding into existence. Each vertebra is at least two metres wide.


	21. The King Titan

Chapter 19: The King Titan

The entire structure shakes around me as the already impossibly large titan continues to grow ever larger. The huge spine continues to form despite the fact that the ribcage has already been pushed far out of view. A huge crater is beginning to form and the entire half of the room that Riess was in before he transformed is beginning to cave in. Huge chunks of white rock fall down from the ceiling to land with huge booming cracks against the floor. "Everyone to the back of the room!" orders Hange.

Scouts, MPs and rebels alike all dash towards the far end of the chamber. As I watch several are crushed by falling rubble. Hauling Historia to her feet I dash towards the dais at the back. Fifty or so people pack into the one corner, trying to get as far away from the newly forming titan as possible. "It's no good!" calls out Levi over the dim of falling stone, "this part of the cave is going to collapse as well. There're already cracks in the roof!" He points up to where a web of black lines is creeping over the pristine white surface.

 _"So, we're still gonna die huh?"_ says Eren inside my head.

'You've really been a pessimist today haven't you?'

 _"Sorry about that. Is Mikasa okay?"_

'Probably. She's not here at any rate so she won't end up being crushed by falling rubble.'

 _"She probably won't be too happy about me dying on her. You know, she said something to me during the Battle out in the field. You remember when we were being rescued."_

'Yes, I remember.'

 _"She said thank you. It seems kind of stupid really doesn't it? I mean, that I never really understood why she cared about me so much until just recently."_

'You know then?'

 _"Yeah. Took me a while didn't it? It's a shame really; I was just starting to warm up to the idea."_

'Don't give up yet. A way out may present itself. Besides, you're Eren Yeager right? What's a collapsing ceiling got on you?'

 _"Don't patronise me."_ Then mental silence, in stark contrast to the massive amount of noise being generated by the cave in. All of a sudden, _"oh what the hell!"_

I see Eren dash out from his position back against the rear wall. His legs are still in the process of regrowing so he more or less falls off of the edge of the platform. "Eren no!" I cry as a huge boulder drops down and smashes into the edge of the platform, blocking him from view. As the rock falls away to the side I can see Eren rummaging through a bag lying on the ground.

"What's he doing?" hisses Levi through gritted teeth.

"Whatever it is, he's going to be crushed out there," says Hange. "Levi, I need you to try and-

She's cut off by a terrific bang. Eren has pulled out what looks like small bottle from the bag and taking of the lid emptied the contents into his mouth. No he vanishes in a blaze of orange heat and energy. _"This had better work!"_ I hear him roar inside my mind.

The roof splits open and a massive piece of stone plummets down towards the group. I shut my eyes and grab hold of Historia. But the impact doesn't come. I look up and open my eyes to see the huge rock frozen in mid air. In fact the entire earthquake has now stopped. The boulder appears to have been caught in mid air by a long branch of white rock. Similar branches of rock are stretched throughout the room. Their central point is a fifteen metre tall brilliant white statue. Made of solid titan stone, Eren's now armoured titan stands with arms outstretched to the corners of the room. His front branches out into a wide smooth wall which covers much of the cracked roof.

As I look closely the nape cracks open and Eren emerges. "Dear god," I hear one of the MPs murmur to himself. Cautiously, both of the captains along with myself and several others from the Scouts and rebels advance down into the now still room.

"Eren!" calls out Hange. "Hey Eren come down!" Nothing. "Doesn't look like he's conscious. Hang, I'll go see if I can get him down from there." She swings up to equal height with the nape and bends over it. However, she doesn't make any move to free Eren from his restraints.

"Commander?" calls out Levi.

"Just a minute!" comes the excited reply.

"Oh no," says Levi, putting a hand to his face. "She's examining something. This could take all day. Hang on, I'll get them down." He fires both cables into the back of the titan statue and swings up to the nape, where he begins a heated altercation with Hange.

"So," says someone on my left, "you're him huh?" I turn in surprise to see Amanda looking at me curiously. "Funny," she says with her head on one side, "I always imagined you'd be more, I don't know, cowardly or villainous."

"Gee thanks," I say.

She shrugs, "eh, what can you expect. You are the one responsible for this mess you know."

"Yeah, I know." I look down at the floor grimly.

"Hey, I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. You were only about five years old at the time so you can't exactly be blamed for your actions. Whatever they were anyway."

"Who are you people?" I ask.

Amanda smiles. "We call ourselves the El-Ekar. It means freedom in a traditional tongue from way back in the day. I suppose you could say that we're rebels against the Riess family's rule in these Walls. For the past hundred years or so we've been made up of people from the Old Families who weren't prepared to sit back and just take things as they were. More recently we've been able to add ordinary people to our ranks as well, thanks to the efforts of Grisha Yeager. And in part your adopted father."

"Are you the leader?"

She nods. "Well, by default I suppose more than anything else. My father was Michael Quinn, the previous leader and he died unexpectedly without appointing a successor. Things were in such a rush five years ago that there wasn't time to appoint a new leader like normal, so I got handed the reins."

"And we've never had cause to regret it," pipes up the man in the black tunic. He's a much older person of about forty years with a grey beard. He offers his hand to me, "Leonardo Leonhart."

"Matthias Quinn," I say taking it. "Actually, I suppose it's Edmund Riess." I find myself pulling a face, "not sure how much I like that name. So, are you related to..."

"To Annie?" asks Leonardo, "Yes I'm afraid so. She's my daughter."

"What?!"

"Yes it's true. There isn't a day goes by that I don't blame myself for her betrayal to Mankind."

Amanda reaches out and puts a hand on his shoulder. "I've told you before Leonardo, it wasn't your fault. The choice was hers in the end." Leonardo sighs and says nothing, as if he's heard the same words many times before, and doesn't believe them anymore now than he did the previous occasions.

"So most of you are from one of the five families then?" I ask, trying to change the subject.

Amanda nods. "Most of us are Quinns and Leonharts though. Nearly all of the Ackerman's turned their backs on the fight over fifty years ago, and there are very few Yeagers and Juvels full stop."

"Why?" The two Ackermans I know don't really seem like the sort of people to turn their backs on this sort of cause.

"I know you're thinking of the two you know, but trust me when I say that they're exceptions in that family rather than the rule. One of the most significant Ackermans in recent history was Kenneth Ackerman. People called him Kenny the Ripper."

My eyes widen. I heard the stories of course, everyone had. The Ripper was meant to be the most deadly criminal in the entire underground. Stories claimed that he killed twenty MPs all on his own, locked their bodies in a supply ship and sailed it up to the capital with a note that read: 'fresh meat for his majesty. Compliments of his friend Kenny.' Of course there weren't many people who believed in those kinds of tales. "But, I thought he was meant to be a story."

"Almost all stories have some basis in truth. He wasn't quite the big-shot the stories make him out to be, but he didn't exactly make fair use of his gifts. In the end the El-Ekar put him and his gang down three years back. However, one of the gang members escaped; a Mister Bruce Yeager. I believe you're familiar with him?"

"Yes. He shot one of my friends straight through the stomach. She barely survived and she was still in critical position the last time I saw her."

Amanda nods. "He'd been working for Rod Riess through Kenny for the past few years now. After Kenny was eliminated he started making direct contact with him. From what we can tell he and Forrae didn't get on too well."

"Hang on, what happened to Forrae!" I exclaim, looking around the room in alarm. "She was here earlier!"

"No idea. She was in the fighting for a while but once the smoke cleared she was gone. She'll probably head for the Wall and the quickest way out of here now. Her missions a failure; there are only two Riesses left and I don't think either of those are going to want her protection."

"No thank you. What about Bruce, what happened to him?"

"Indisposed. Permanently," says Amanda with an unpleasant look.

From up above there's a cracking noise and then a zip as Levi descends carrying Eren. "But Levi, I wasn't doooone!" wails Hange as she follows. "There were so many interesting strands to study!"

"It isn't breaking apart," says Levi irritably. "You can do all of your cataloguing later."

"But it isn't the saaaame!" she whines.

"Ugh, I can't believe I take orders from you."

"Oh there's no need to talk like that," says Hange as she lands next to him. "He coming around?"

Eren lets out a slight groan and slips out of Levi's hands to sit on the floor. "I'd say yes."

Eren sits up and rubs his head. "Uh, did it work?"

"Yep, like a charm," says Hange. "This is so perfect; I can finally conduct a detailed study of your titan forms outer anatomy!"

"Plus the roof didn't fall in on us," points out Levi.

"Oh yeah, that's nice too."

"So, is that it?" I ask.

"Far from it," says Hange more seriously now. "We still have to deal with that thing outside."

The new titan is well over a hundred metres tall. In fact it's so large that it can't even stand up. Instead it's being forced to drag itself over the ground with its face in the dirt. Even so, it's emanating a vast amount of heat and steam making it impossible to approach it. We're watching from the back of a wagon from an entire kilometre away. Historia is asleep on top of several boxes with a blanket draped over her. Levi, Eren, Armin, Hange and Amanda are all sitting along the edges.

Apparently it's around four in the morning, but my body's been so thrown off by recent events that it isn't tired. I can see that for Armin, Levi, Hange and Amanda that's not the case. Armin rubs his eyes and yawns sleepily. "It's almost a bad thing we're so far away," he says with a smile, "If we were closer then it would probably set off enough adrenaline to wake us all up again."

"Odds are we'll all be functioning without rest for a while longer," says Levi. "Eren, try it again."

With a groan of annoyance Eren stands up and scowling furiously at the King Titan as it crawls along the ground calls out, "Stop!" Nothing happens.

"You have to invest your will into it," I say.

"What do you think I'm doing?" growls Eren irritably.

"Look, maybe we could try contacting the titan itself directly. That would probably be more effective wouldn't it?"

"And just how do I do that?" he asks, slumping down into his seat. "This is crazy; you're the only one capable of opening direct communication, and I'm the only one who make it do anything! It's like we have all the pieces we need we just can't hold both of them at the same time."

"Look, the Coordinate power's meant to work over massive distances," says Amanda. "You should be able to do this."

"Well I can't all right! I'm not a Riess so I don't have full access to the power."

"It is possible that it's simply too far away," suggests Armin. "I mean, a kilometre is long ways for an order to carry you know."

"The point is it isn't working," says Eren. "So can we please just stop trying to get this plan to work and come up with another one?!" He sits down and folds hi arms.

"Well, there's no way we can attack it conventionally," says Armin. "The heat it's putting out is just beyond what a person can stand. Matthias or Eren might be able to resist it in titan form, but it's unlikely the titan would simply let them search for the weak-spot."

Hange nods, "finding the exact point where Riess's body is will be like finding a needle in a haystack the size of a house. It just doesn't seem to be practical."

"Add to that the fact that if we were to mess up the killing blow his body would simply regenerate and any possibility of a direct attack becomes remote at best," says Armin gloomily.

"So we need something indirect?" I ask.

"Yes, I suppose so," murmurs Armin. He rubs his eyes again from sleep.

"Maybe some of you guys should get some rest," suggests Eren. "This thing's not moving very fast and it's heading northwards so we've a long time until it reaches a populated area."

"Maybe you're right," says Armin. "But we should at least sleep in shifts so that enough of us are awake at any one time to deal with a crisis."

"Eren and I were asleep for a big part of the day and night," I point out, "so we're not tired."

"All right then," says Hange. "We can pass the word around to sleep in shifts for the next few hours. That should help keep everyone fresh enough to fight when we finally have a plan to work with. Levi, see to that will you?"

"Yes sir," says Levi, pushing himself to his feet and neatly vaulting over the side of the wagon, which is moving along at a slow pace so as not to leave the King Titan behind. Armin stretches and climbs down into the bottom of the wagon. Pulling his cloak around him to act as a blanket he closes his eyes and within a few minutes his breathing matches the steady rise and fall of sleep.

"You know," says Amanda, looking curiously at the blonde, "The Arlerts used to be rather influential. Many of them held major posts in the Army and several served as advisors to the King."

"What happened?" I ask.

"We're not really sure. As far as we can make out though they found our something they weren't meant to. It got passed around the family and before you knew it all of the ones in significant places of power were just disappearing. They vanished both from the world and people memories. It only happened about thirty years ago but no one knows about it, except those of us from the old blood strains." She shakes her head and chuckles quietly to herself. "He probably has no idea that his great uncle was a General and the Commander of the Southern Territories before Pixis. Or that his great grandfather was a Colonel and the leader of the Scout Regiment. And it's not only his family that's fallen from grace over the years, several have suffered similar fates.

"A good example is the Kirstein Family. Sixty years ago Louis Kirstein was the Premier. One day he discovered who he was really working for and began to try and plot against the Riess Family. But they caught him, had him removed and then reduced the status of the entire family to the same as the average farmer. They built themselves back up to become successful merchants in Trost over the past few generations, but none of them have any idea of the honour their name used to hold. It shows how pointless it was to resist the royal family. Until seven years ago, when everything changed."

I stare blankly into the night sky. The idea that people could be reduced to such states and no one even remember them is baffling. Perhaps over centuries but overnight seems impossible. In fact to put it bluntly it seems terrifying. If the Coordinate power were to return to the Riess family all we've achieved, ever sacrifice we've made would be erased in an instant. Suddenly a thought occurs to me. "Has this happened before?" I ask.

Amanda looks at me confused. "I mean, have people made the same kind of progress as we have, only to have it undone and be sent back to square one again?"

"Not that we know of," she says. "But that doesn't mean anything really. It's possible that the people who knew about it died before being able to pass the knowledge on. In fact, we don't even know for sure that the Walls have been in place for a hundred years, they could have been there for thousands."

"So really, we know nothing about the past for sure?"

"That's about the size of it. But then, isn't that always the case? I mean, we weren't there so there really is no way of being certain."

"I suppose so."

There's silence again for a while. After Amanda leans back and closes her eyes Eren speaks up. "How did you find us Commander Hange?"

"Ah, that," says Hange with a smile. "It's not particularly complicated really. Well, at least not compared to everything else that is."

"That doesn't really mean anything," I mutter to myself. "Everything about this mess is bloody complicated."

Ignoring me Hange continues. "Well, you recall I was going to try and get some information out of Pastor Nick our (sort of) contact in the Wall Cult? He'd been killed, supposedly by burglars. I didn't accept that for a second though. I only saw his body for a few moments but it had distinct signs of violence that thieves would never have wasted the time to inflict. I started snooping around Trost after that, trying to pick up something that might lead me in deeper but without success. Then, the next day I was approached by a young woman dressed in a purple cloak."

She nods in Amanda's direction. "She said that there had been some complications in the undercity. I of course told her I had no idea what she was talking about. 'Don't waste time upholding a false level of disconnection First Captain Hange,' she replied. 'The enemy has all three targets now and we need to act fast to recover them.' As you might imagine I didn't trust her at all, but her words worried me more than a little bit. So, I agreed to be detoured away from the main streets in order to have a more private conversation.

"She told me that there'd been some sort of battle in the undercity of Karanese District and that you and Historia had both been captured. I still wasn't inclined to believe her until she produced Captain Levi and the rest of the Special Operations squad. After that she informed us of just who her and her group were, the nature of the Riess's hold over the Kingdom, Historia's right to the throne and just where we could expect to find you.

"I'd managed to find a contact among the major news publisher in Trost who was rather sick and tired of having to publish the central government's propaganda. I've got his word that we can expect a full reveal of Historia's right to the throne and many of the Military Police's unsavoury dealings in this morning's paper. That should help a great deal to win the public over to our side. All we had to do then was rescue you.

"Two days later and Amanda said she had a lead. She led us right to where we found you. We rigged up a kind of smoke bomb system-courtesy of Corporal Arlert's imagination-and chucked it down the stairs into the main room. Under the cover of the smoke we were able to engage the MPs at close range, making their Anti-Personal Gear useless. Now all we need to do is stop this big guy," she says jerking her thumb over her shoulder at the gigantic steaming lump, "and we're home free. Historia becomes Queen, the Scout Regiment is cleared and the current government is removed from power. Of course, it looks like stopping this thing is going to be much more easily said than done."

I nod. "I wonder why the El-Ekar didn't come and find us sooner," I muse. "It would have saved us a lot of time and probably some people's lives if they'd made contact with us when this entire uprising began."

"Amanda says that at first they weren't sure if they could trust us. And when they decided they could it was already too late to stop you and Historia being taken. I don't know what she intends to do once we've established the new government. Most of her people have shown remarkable aptitude on the ODMs so we'd be glad to have them as part of the Scouts, but they may not want to do that. They've been a tight-knit family for a long time now, quite literally in some cases. I think the talent with the 3D Gear must be a genetic trait, since almost every person from one of these old families has proven to be highly skilled with it. Honed reflexes, physical strength and sharp minds all around; they're quite the elite force."

"Hmm," murmurs Eren, "I wonder though; are any of them titan shifters? I mean, we know it's supposed to be people from the old families who can do it, so they should all be able to, at least in theory."

Hange shakes her head. "From what I can gather, a person can only gain control over the titan shifting power if while they're in titan form they devour a person who already has it."

"Then where does it come from in the first place?" I ask.

She shrugs. "We don't know. The power has been with the Riess family since the Walls were raised, but for the others it's different. I've been trying to ask about Annie, Reiner and Bertolt, but they always dodge around the subject."

"If they want our trust they'll have to tell us at some point," says Eren. "They don't sit easy with me, none of them. I guess we'll see though won't we?"


	22. The Northern Wall

Chapter 20:The Northern Wall

"Citizens of Orvud District, we request that you remain calm and follow the orders given to you by those military representatives assigned to your area. Participation in this drill is mandatory so please do not try to cause trouble. Mass scale troop movements and cannon fire should be expected. Do not be alarmed by it; it is all a part of the procedure."

Even though the midday sun is shining I can feel a dark swathe of apprehension. The King Titan is due to come within firing range of the batteries on the Walls of Orvud District within a few minutes. I can see the huge bulk of the creature as it drags itself over the ground, face pressed into the dirt. I glance nervously to my left and right at the huge array of cannons upon the white stone boundary. Hundreds of soldiers from both the Garrison and the Scouts are bustling about everywhere, checking weapons and loading guns. "Hey Matthias, are you listening?" says Armin irritably, cutting through my thoughts.

"Ah yes, sorry Armin," I reply hastily, turning back to my friend and huge pile of boxes and barrels tied up by ropes behind him.

Armin sighs and shakes his head. "As I was saying, we're only to get the one shot at this. It's unlikely that the cannon fire will do the job but of course it might, so it's still worth trying it. If it fails however, we're going to have to wait until the titan tries to pull itself up onto the wall. When that happens we'll detonate explosive charges along the top of the Wall in order to bring him forwards and down. Then Eren in titan form will hurl this large net filled with explosives into the titan's mouth. That should cause sufficient damage to blow out the nape. All fragments from that are going to have to be cut apart, preferably in the air before they hit the ground and become more difficult to localise."

"Aren't we relying pretty heavily on the chance that the titan's mouth will just happen to be open?" asks Jean with a frown.

"Not entirely," says Armin with an uncharacteristically confident smile. "He's been dragging himself along the ground this entire time because his weight is too great for his legs to support. That means that his face has been pressed against the ground from the very moment he first formed. More than likely the front part will be missing, ensuring a wide opening for Eren to throw down."

"The plan seems good," says the elderly Colonel Blackthorn-the leader of the local Garrison forces. "But if it doesn't work? The citizens down there will be totally vulnerable to the titan's attack. We lack the ordinance for a second attempt at this. I don't feel comfortable letting the people under my protection be slaughtered."

"So you shouldn't Colonel," says Captain Hange, "but don't worry, we do have a backup plan. Of sorts."

"Of sorts?" asks the Colonel sceptically.

"I'm afraid we don't have much of a fleshed out alternative," explain Armin. "Even if the explosion fails to kill the titan, it should still expose its entire nape and destroy most of its head. At that point we'll be relying on Matthias and Eren in titan form to try and finish the job. They should be able to withstand the heat and posses the strength required for the task. However, even when badly damaged the sheer size of this titan makes it a formidable adversary, so we'd rather not have to resort to that plan."

"There's something you've forgotten to take into account," speaks up Amanda. "You've forgotten about Forrae. She's bound to try and protect Riess by oath, she may come back in order to stop this. If she transforms it's unlikely that even both Eren and Matthias at the same time could take her down and she's totally impenetrable to blade strikes and cannon fire. If she appears we need some sort of counter measure to sue against her."

Armin pulls a face. "From that it sounds like we don't have one. Matthias, you fought with her briefly; is there any sort of potential weakness that you can tell us about?"

"Not a thing," I say grimly. "She was at least twice as fast as the Female Titan in hand to hand combat and almost as strong as the Beast Titan. On top of that her armour has no joints or weak points of any kind. Sheer concussive force might work on her but apart from that I can't think of anything."

"If she does come we'll just have to try what we can," says Armin. "We really ought to arrange for some sort of giant weapons that you two can fight with at some point. If her armour's impervious something like a mace would probably work well. Sufficient force could damage her internal organs, and possibly are strong enough blow to her nape might kill her human body."

"In any case," says Hange, "our first priority needs to be bringing down Riess. That means that we'll need Matthias to try and hold of our thorned friend until we're finished. Can you do that?"

"That depends on how long you need," I reply. "I could probably buy a few minutes but not much more. Plus the damage to civilian buildings could potentially become extensive."

"Well Colonel, are you willing to try and kill this monster then?" asks Hange.

The Colonel sighs and shakes his head. "It's already on its way here. So what choice do I have eh?"

The sound of the cannons firing blots out everything else. All I can hear are the resounding, cracking booms of charges detonating, sending steel round hurtling through the air into the flesh of the advancing abomination. The thing's back has already been minced by heavy cannon fire, but it continues to use its shrivelled arms to drag its massive bulk of a torso across the ground towards the Walls. The artillery halts in order to reload and I remove my hands from my ears.

Everything is more or less silent to me after that barrage. People's voices are reduced to far away mutters and thuds instead of words. I look around at the people hurrying left and right along the length of the white stone structure. Fresh charges are being hastily fitted into place and the firing pins being removed in preparation for the next volley. I look up at the source of the long shadow covering me.

The Berserker Titan is looking out at the King Titan as it continues to haul itself closer and closer towards the Walls. _"I'm pretty sure the people down there aren't going to be prepared to believe this is a drill for much longer,"_ thinks Eren.

'We don't need them to,' I think back. 'They just had to stay put until we lured him here. He can't resist such a large number of humans all gathered in the one place.'

 _"It's going to be a pretty terrifying experience for them all the same."_

'With any luck they'll all live to hate us for using them as bait. Make sure you don't miss.'

 _"I wasn't planning on it."_

"FIRE!" shouts the Colonel, and I hastily clap my hands back over my ears as the guns open up again.

The blasts make no difference whatsoever as the King Titan reaches the foot of the Wall. Those cannons directly above it turn to point straight down and fire directly into the creature's neck. This is the point where our hope for success with the cannons is best. If they can get a direct shot at the nape they stand a better chance of hitting the weak spot.

Suddenly I feel something tug at my shirt from behind. I turn to see a man wearing a full length black cloak. "Who are you, how did you get up here?" I try to ask, but the sound of the cannon shots drowns me out. With a single calm swift movement, the man grabs me by my collar and throws me off of the edge.

I have absolutely no idea what's going on. All I know is that I don't intend on dying from a fall. I bite into my hand as I plummet, sparking off the usual bright light. I impact as my titan body is forming around me, caving in the roof of a house. To my surprise I snap straight out of the battered nape and fall onto a cracked wooden floor.

The half formed titan body threw all of its forming muscles towards the nape in order to keep my body safe. As a result almost none of the titan formed, not even its skeleton. The steamy construct is composed of only numerous thick bands of muscle woven around a half length spine with a few short protruding ribs. I stagger backwards gasping for breath. I feel dazed but nothing more than that seems to have happened.

Then the man from the Wall lands neatly on top of the half formed corpse. He shrugs off his cloak to reveal a set Anti-Personal Gear, which must explain how he was able to get up onto the Wall. His right arm is missing and the left side of his face covered in plasters, as if he's just had all the flesh ripped off and someone's tried to bandage him up in a hurry. The little of his face that I can see clearly though confuses me even more than what I can't. "Bruce Yeager?" I stutter. "But, Amanda said you were killed during the fight."

"I almost was," he replies in a voice that chokes on every few syllables, attesting to damaged vocal cords. "My face was damaged severely and my right arm was mangled so badly that it had to be amputated. My old buddies from the underground that saved me told me not to get up and about so fast but well, I just had to come up here and pay you all a visit."

"But, how did you know where we were and what was going on?"

"Oh at the time I had no idea where you were. It wasn't you I was looking for. As soon as I was able to stand up I headed for the place where I knew Riess ought to be. I was kind of pissed as you might imagine; fancied running him through a few times, or at least making off with a few valuable items of his. What I found was most surprising though. All the landscape had fallen in and there was a right bloody mess. I found something worth looking for though."

He takes out a small wooden box. "Recognise this by any chance? You probably should since two of the doses are missing." My eyes widen. It's the same box that Riess had the titan drug in. Bruce flips open the lid and shows the inside to me. "Four doses," he explains in a remarkably friendly tone, "one for the pretty little girl that he labelled queen, the one he's gone and slipped himself now labelled giant, one labelled silver-whatever that means-and this last one labelled hunter. I do like the sound of that one don't you?"

"What are you talking about? What are you even doing here?"

"Well you see, my friends told me I might have suffered just a teensy bit of brain damage. Of course, they have no idea what they're talking about. I've suffered a shit load of it! And you know something, I don't care!" He laughs manically several times. "I had my left eye cut out and my head smashed six times against a roadside. And that was after getting shot three times in my right arm. Look at me; I'm a fucking mess! So I've turned up here and I decided to just start killing you people starting with whoever I saw first. Guess who got lucky?"

"And how exactly do you intend to kill me?" I ask, holding my right hand very close to my mouth. "You don't have a right arm; I doubt you can beat me in your condition."

"Oh defiantly not," he says, nodding eagerly. "But that's where this baby comes in." He takes out one of the two remaining cylinders from the wooden box and carefully sets it down on the shattered floorboards. "I'll need to come back for that later," he says with a smile that causes blood to run down from underneath the plastered side of his face. "Anyway, I've heard rather a lot of references to this stuff giving you freedom. Oh I know what they mean by freedom don't you worry, but I figure, let's go out with a bang huh? My wounds are horribly infected you see, so my chances of survival are basically zero. So why not have some fun eh? Let's be free and give into those lovely little impulses. Let's be free, and kill!"

He drops the glass container into his mouth and bites down. He pauses, almost thoughtfully for a moment, and then swallows. Nothing happens. "Come on, comeoncomeoncomeon!" Bruce snaps, stamping his foot. Then a slight crackling sound begins to fill the air. "Ah, much better," he says, before exploding into a huge lightning bolt.

I'm thrown backwards but manage to bite into my tongue and trigger my own transformation. The sixteen metre tall humanoid that emerges out of the clouds of steam is gangly with deeply sunken eyes. Its hair is long, brown and matted and practically its entire head is split in two by a massive row of teeth. Its face is thrust forwards a long way, almost like a snout and its ears end in pointed tips.

The Feral Titan leaps onto me, ripping at my throat with its many teeth. I slam fist up into its stomach and send it flying upwards and off of me. I scramble back to my feet, coughing on the blood clogging up my airways. Even if breathing is unnecessary I keep trying from force of habit. The Feral Titan rolls over, scrabbling in the dirt before turning and leaping at me again. I smash my fist straight into its head as it comes on, crushing a large part of its ugly skull.

As it drops to the ground it leaps forwards, slipping under my arm to latch itself into my torso. It sinks its teeth into my side and rips out a huge chunk of flesh. I howl in pain and grabbing hold of him tear him free. I throw backwards into the Wall where his spine crunches slightly and he lands awkwardly. I try listening for some sort of thought from the Feral Titan but all I can hear is a mad laughing sound.

With a yelping snarl the Feral Titan climbs back to its feet again, shaking its steaming head and sending blood spraying in every direction. It cries aloud as if in ecstasy and runs forwards. I jump to the side but it turns on its heel as it rushes past. Slipping the Feral Titan falls onto its face into the ruined fragments of the building. It grabs hold of my right leg and bites into my Achilles Heel. My leg gives out straight away and I drop down onto one knee.

In delight the Feral Titan clambers up my back. Its snapping jaws probe for my weak spot hungrily. I crash my elbow into its face, breaking apart its newly formed jaw. I then proceed to drag free from the insane creature, kicking it off as it tries to pursue me.

Then there's a massive explosion from above me. I look up to see pieces of charred titan flesh flying in all directions. I've been so preoccupied I forgot what else was going on right now. Numerous soldiers leap from the Walls, blades flashing as they move to cut through the black missiles that may in every case contain the human components of the King Titan.

Ignoring the blast the Feral Titan attack me again, jaws slavering. I strike it across the face, sending it into the ground with a crash. 'Stop this you maniac!' I think desperately at Bruce. 'You're totally uncontrolled. You can't beat so just give up!'

 _"Hahaha! Freedom! We, have, FREEDOM!"_ is the only reply I get.

'Yeah, you do.' I bring my foot down into the Feral Titan's nape. There's a cracking and snapping noise as the flesh of the back of the neck gives way beneath my stomping foot. My mind flashes back to all of the Scouts killed during the fighting, of Mikasa still in critical state and of Connie as potentially mortally wounded. Anger rushes through me and I stomp down again and again. The Feral Titan has long stopped moving, but I don't care. 'Get up! Get up so that I can kill you again you filthy scum!' I can hear my titan voice roaring and snarling as I continue to pound the corpse beneath me into a red pulp. 'Get up! Get up!'

Finally, I stop myself. I stare at the battered and broken body in front of me, steam already rising from it. 'Why, why did I do that? What did you do to me?'

 _"Freedom,"_ whispers a small voice in the back of my head.

'If that's freedom, then I know I don't want it. Blood isn't much to my tastes. I suggest you keep out of my head from now on. I'm in control and not you, that's how it is and that's how it's going to stay.'

I look around me in a dazed way. To my surprise I'm being watched. Three small boys and a girl are staring at me from one of the streets. One of the boys is looking at me with amazement, one with fear and the other with hatred. The girl has her hand around the amazed boy's arm. It's a bit like looking into a window on the past actually. I just hope these kids don't have to go through the things me and my friends have. Since I don't want to panic them I do something I hope will reassure them a little. I bring my right hand up against my chest and a salute, and bow slightly.

"Wow," I hear the amazed boy exclaim to his friends. "He must be one of those titan kids from the Scouts. That was amazing!"

"Keep away from him, you don't know if he's safe," says the girl.

"Stop coddling me already!" snaps the boy.

Inside I shake my head with a sigh. If they really are anything like us, these four will be just fine. I walk away from the charred pile of smoking bones and head towards where the nearest soldier fell. If they missed and this just happens to be the target it could start to regrow. I'd rather not give it the chance. I look up at the top of the Wall to see the dissolving remains of a ripped up face peering down into the city. The main body of the titan at least, is dead.

The Scout who made the attack doesn't seem to have found anything special inside of the piece though; it steamed away and left no trace of a human form. It's the same with the next few I try and I'm beginning to worry that we're going to have to search through the city street by street for the regrowing titan. Then I notice that many of the people in the area (civilians and soldiers alike) are all heading towards a specific area. Curious I follow.

People are all crowded around something in the middle of a market square. They've ushered a person up onto a box and seem to be cheering something. If my titan body worked in the same way as my normal one my mouth would probably fall open. Historia is looking around at the crowds of people a little awkwardly, but with a certain level of confidence. As I get closer I realise what everyone's cheering. "Long live the Queen! Long live Queen Historia!"

I've temporarily forgotten that I'm still in titan form and when people see me they crowd away in panic. "Wait don't panic," say the nearby soldiers hurriedly, "he's one of ours." Despite this the civilians all still make sure to put as much distance between me and them as they possibly can. Because of this, a clear path ends up opening between me and Historia. Suddenly an idea occurs to me.

Stepping forwards I kneel down onto one knee, bowing low in front of her. The people around all look on in confusion. I snap open the nape of my titan and slide down its back to the ground. Stepping out in front of it I walk on so that I'm only a few steps away from Historia. I look her straight in the eyes, and then bow. "Your majesty, I herby swear service to you, to your people, and thus to all of Humanity. My sword is yours." I kneel down onto one knee and bow my head to look at the pavement.

To my surprise I can hear dozens of soldiers come out from the crowd around me and kneel down in the same way, repeating the same words. To my great amazement, I even see Captain Levi step out from the masses to join us. Then I see Eren further away on my right, and before long hundreds of soldiers have gathered in the square, kneeling and swearing fealty to the new Queen. Then, Historia speaks. "Brave soldiers of Humanity," she begins, doing her best to keep her voice calm and confident, "I accept your service. Stand now and carry your swords for Mankind."

As one we rise up to our feet. "Long live the Queen!" I cry.

"Long live the Queen!" echoes everyone else.


	23. Past, Present and Future

Chapter 21: Memories of the Past, Troubles of the Present and Promises for the Future

"You stupid bitch!"

"I'm not going to let you do this!"

"Kill her!"

"Mom no!"

"You dam brat, come here and stop bawling. You're no use to us screaming."

"I say we cut the dam things throat right now and leave its body out here with the rest of those bastards!"

"Give us the Sacrifice! He belongs to the mighty one!"

"Remember, she's your sister and you must always look after her."

"I'll be away for a few days. Make sure you behave while I'm gone."

"Your authority is overruled, your highness."

"Edmund, don't be scared but I need you to come with me now okay?"

"Where is Angela? I need to know where she is! Why won't you tell me?!"

"Just tell him what we told you to and you'll be fine. If you don't then we'll kill you and your brat of a sister."

"My name's Forrae Juvel. I'll be your tutor while the Doctor is away all right?"

"Something's gone wrong! The doorway is opening but nothing's coming out. Dear god, is that..."

"We, are, hunter! We, kill! We, are, FREE!"

"That's Duncan Arlert, your father's chancellor."

"Please Doctor Yeager, do we have to spend so much time doing maths and Latin? It's boring!"

"That boy is responsible for everything that's happened to us, everything that we've had to suffer through! Do you really think I'm going to let you bring him up like one of us?!"

"Run, run hard and don't look back."

"Your father's had to go away for a while. He'll be back in a few days though."

"Do we really need to move to the city? They say everything smells and everyone there is a jerk."

"Are there any among you who still have an honest heart?"

"My name's Armin. What's yours?"

"You stupid sons of bitches! One day we'll kill all of you, just you wait and see!"

"How many people do you think he killed during the past sixty years?"

"This is our sacred duty to the people of Althand. We are honour bound to serve them before ourselves; that is the duty of a king."

"Um, well you see Krista, I was wondering if you might like to meet up with me after training."

"They're really gone aren't they?"

"We're here because of the Female Titan. I think we may be luring her into a trap."

 _"What could possibly be worth, all this death and destruction?!"_

"In the end know that this sacrifice is for the good of the people."

"Just remember that I love you."

"He's awake! He knows what's happening. We're all going to be devoured!"

"I am not going to lose you!"

"Historia, aren't you even the least bit bothered by this?"

"Of course I am, but it doesn't matter."

"Why?"

"Because I love you idiot, that's why."

"Please, I don't want to die."

I sit up in bed with a gasp. My entire body feels drenched with sweat and my heart rate is sky rocketing. "Wha, what the hell?" I ask myself in a hoarse whisper. This last dream was so vivid that I can't stop my hands from trembling. The blood and the screams. There were houses on fire and people running in panic in all directions. Titans were everywhere and there was blood around their mouths. The worst part was, that I was one of them. I could feel the sticky mess of blood clinging to my own chin, and everything was at least ten metres lower down than it ought to have been.

It didn't stop there though. There was that field again, the one I saw in the supply room during the Battle of Trost. The girl was there again but this time I know who she is. She's Angela. She's my twin sister. The memory of her suddenly makes me shake all over and I bury my head in my hands, tears pouring down my cheeks. She must be dead now, swallowed up either by time, or between a pair of bloodstained jaws.

"This isn't fair," I hiss between sobs. "Why couldn't I remember her before now? She was my sister! My dad always told me that I needed to look after her and I forgot all about her. I'm sorry Angela, I'm so sorry."

Then there was my mother and father. They're still a little vague in my mind but I can remember their voices. My father was always very firm about things I recall. He was serious much of the time but he was always kind. My mother was far more relaxed in character. I can remember the sound of her laughter. I can also remember her body lying on a wooden floor, her life blood pouring away into the cracks between the floorboards. That sends up a fresh wave of tears.

I can't remember much of my old life. Odds are there isn't much to remember anyway. I can remember enough though to make me cry at its loss. My parents are both dead as is my sister and all of my friends. The places I used to play as a child are likely gone by now.

The dream kept moving on though, rushing closer and closer to the present. It was like I was looking back on a broken up story of my life. There was snow everywhere, huge amounts of it coating the landscape. There was a young woman holding onto me and telling me everything was going to be all right. I can remember that I didn't believe her. Then I saw my adopted parents and several moments from the time I spent in Rieskrippe. Then my adopted father left, to go on his mission to try and steal the Coordinate power from the Riess family. A mission he never came back from.

Then I remembered the day when mom said we'd be moving to Shiganshina. I'd been expecting the next move for a while at that point, but I was surprised that we were going to move to a city. I didn't want to go. The cities were supposed to be disgusting and filled with stuck up rich people who turned up their noses at you, or filthy beggars and cutthroats. Mother insisted though, and so we went.

I didn't like the city very much at first with all of the smells and the bustling groups of people. Then, almost a week after we arrived I met Armin. Things went uphill for me from there I'd have to say. Of course they came crashing down again when the Colossal Titan, no, when Bertolt appeared and kicked in the Gate. Thousands from the city alone perished, never mind the tens of thousands more who died afterwards.

I sit still in the darkness of the night, clutching my knees against my chest and sobbing. It's hard to believe that yesterday I was so happy. Historia is due to be crowned the very next day and Major-General Erwin has been released from prison. The old government has stepped down and the former king permitted to retire to a remote house within the confines of Wall Sina. I should be happy right now, excited at the prospect of a united front against the Titans for the first time in this struggle. I'm not though, I'm crying my eyes out on what's probably the nicest bed I've slept in since my life as Edmund Riess.

With a sigh I haul myself to my feet and pull on some rudimentary clothes. I walk out into the unlit corridors with a candle and head for the balcony. Historia has been moved into the palace, and insisted that the entire Scout Regiment be housed inside of its vast suite of rooms as a kind of reward for our service. That made the staff a little unhappy to be sure.

The large balcony lies between this particular wing of guest rooms and the Queen's private chambers. I step out onto it and look up into the night sky. The pale moon glimmers down at me, almost a perfect circle in the dark blue sky. The stars break up the rich blue of the void with their bright silver glints. There's a popular myth that you can wish on stars. I lean over the rail and let out a long sigh. "I wish, I wish none of this had ever happened," I say. "I wish the Titan's had never come and I wish I'd never become one of them. I wish none of those people had to die, and I wish that all of those people are going to have to die wouldn't have to. I wish, I wish I could have my life back!"

I lose it again and start crying. Images of my old family keep flashing through my mind. None of them seem like they want to stick properly. No matter how hard I try to grab onto them they slip away between my fingers like sand. _"Brother, when you're king will you make a law that says we can't eat sheep?"_

 _"But I like lamb, it tastes great!"_

 _"You're so mean!"_

I sob desperately and my entire body shakes. Suddenly I feel a hand slip over my shoulder. I turn around in surprise. Historia is standing behind me in her night gown. "I was having trouble sleeping and then I heard some noise," she explains. "Matthias, what's wrong?"

I look away, trying to hide my tear stained face from her. But I can't stop the tears from continuing to run. "I, I remembered them," I croak out between sobs. "I remembered my family. My father, my mother and my sister. I remember her now. I promised my dad that I'd look after her, that I'd always make sure she was safe. But I didn't. I forgot she even existed until today. She'll be dead now, maybe even killed by one of the Titans.

"I was supposed to have a duty to the people, to put their safety and well being above my own! But I failed pretty badly at that now didn't I? I brought into being the greatest threat Mankind as a species has ever known! Countless thousands, millions of them are dead because of me! If I could I would turn it all back but there's nothing I can do. It's done, finished, over. My adopted father always told me the past didn't matter, that it was the here and now that counted. If the past doesn't matter then why does it hurt so much?!"

I scream this last part up at the night sky, as if I expect an answer from the stars or the moon. "I, I never knew you had a sister," says Historia.

"Had is the operative word there. She's gone." I sniff several times as my crying fit finally draws to a close. "You know the stupid thing? I spent the first five years or so of my life in this place. I already know it so well. I used to play in those gardens down there," I say, pointing towards an open space of grass with flour beds running down alongside it until it reached a stream that encircled the back part of the structure. "We'd eat lunch down there during the spring because mom always liked that time of year so much she said. I was a bit of a brat at the time actually. I guess that's what happens when you're the heir to throne without a care in the world; you get complacent. I took it all for granted, just assumed that I would always have what I had for the rest of my life. Well, I've certainly been through an awakening experience on that front haven't I?"

Silently Historia slips her arms around me. I take hold of her hand and clutch it tightly. "Historia, who am I?" I ask finally. "That boy had a different family and a different life in a different world. I can't see him in me anymore. The more I remember the more I want to forget about him and his life but I can't. I can't do it because it's mine. I want to be me, but I don't know who me is."

Historia smiles. "It may come as a surprise but I actually know that sort of thing rather well. My life feels like it's in three parts. There's the first part where I was Historia Riess, the little bastard girl who lived on a farm where nobody talked to her. Then there's the second part where I was Krista Lenz, the good little soldier girl who everyone liked. And now, now I'm just me. I'm choosing to use the name Historia because it allows me to acknowledge my past, but I don't let it hold onto me anymore. I think you're entering the third part of your life now."

"But how do I get there? I don't want to acknowledge who I was. I want to shut it out because it wasn't miserable and hard. It was good, better than any other part of my life has been. I don't want to remember how happy I was because I can't bear it. I just, I just can't take the strain of it."

"Then let me help. Without you I wouldn't be the person I am now. Maybe I would have come out with my real identity on my own, but I'd be someone else. I'd be cold, hollow and dead on the inside. I might have healed but it wouldn't have been real healing, just an ugly scar. You helped me to be the person I am, let me help you do the same, please."

I look at her. Her face is half outlined by moonlight as she looks at me. Her blue eyes are filled with stars and her hair looks as if it's made of silver. She steps back and holds out her hand to me. "I don't fully understand what you're going through, but I do a little and I'm willing to understand more. The question I have for you is this, will you let me?"

I hesitate for a moment then take her hand and pull her close to me. "Yes," I whisper. We stand like that a while as my breathing calms and my temperature which up until now has been quite high, begins to settle down again. I draw back and smile at her. "That was rather a good line," I say.

Historia smiles back, "I learned it for someone very special to me."

"How special?"

"More than anyone else in the world."

"I love you Historia."

"I know. I love you too."

I look up at the shining white moon and let out a long sigh of relief. "So, that means nothing's going to change?" I ask, looking back at her.

"Change?"

"With you becoming the Queen and everything."

"Oh don't be stupid! Besides, technically you are a prince you know so it's perfectly fine."

"Oh jeez," I exclaim, realising something. "I didn't think of this until just now but well, we're related!"

Historia gasps. "Oh my goodness, I never realised that either! You're like my half cousin from five generations ago. Is that weird or something?"

"Well," I say, thinking it over carefully, "it my uncle's side of the family who took over the throne from what we can tell, and you're only half Riess anyway so I think we're fine."

"Oh good. Hey, don't you go trying to usurp my throne or anything," she says in mock seriousness.

"Aw, I was really hoping to have a huge rebellion when this was over, are you sure I can't give it a try?"

"Yes."

"Fine then. That means I'll never get to be King, I'm stuck being a Prince for my whole life. Oh well, less responsibilities I guess. I hope I won't be expected to participate in public events or something. I mean, how do you even explain that to people? This guy's your Prince from a hundred and seven years ago? I doubt they'd be buying into that anytime soon."

Historia laughs. "You could always be like a prince regent; that's closer to a king."

"And spend all my time doing paper work? No thanks." I stare into her eyes and all my previous sorrow is pressed away into the background. It's still there, and I think it'll stay there for a very long time to come, but right now it doesn't bother me. I don't want to leave Historia, not ever.

"This probably isn't the best time for it, and it isn't official until I can produce a ring but..." I take a deep breath, step back and bend down onto one knee. "Historia, I love you. Will you marry me?"

She stares dumbfounded at me for a few moments, eyes filled with surprise. She moves her lips but no sound comes, and then it does. "Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes!" she gasps hugging me madly. "Yes I will! Oh my goodness, you actually asked!"

"Yeah well," I say with a sideways grin, "I'd been thinking about it for a while and I just decided right then that I didn't want to wait any longer to ask."

"But wait, are we allowed to yet? I mean, aren't we still legally counted as minors?"

"In a few days I won't, and your birthday is only a month away from now. I think we can be engaged for at least a month don't you?"

"Yes of course! Oh my, what am I going to wear?"

"A dress I'd assume," I say with a laugh.

"Oh don't be stupid!" she says with a playful punch to my arm. "Who's going to perform the ceremony, where are we going to have it, who do I ask to be the bridesmaids? I don't have any little sisters, or even any young friends!"

"Calm down, calm down. We've got plenty of time to sort that out okay? Besides, we're still at war with Humanity's greatest enemy; there are other things we need to worry about."

"We are getting married!" she sputters. "I think that's a pretty big deal no matter when it is. We have to tell everyone don't we?"

"In the middle of the night? Maybe we should wait until the morning."

"You're probably right. Can we go in; it's freezing out here?"


	24. Queen Historia

Chapter 22: Queen Historia

"I don't know if I can do this!" Historia gasps. She's wearing some of the most dazzling clothes I've ever seen in my entire life. A light blue dress that hangs from bellow the shoulders is trimmed with gold and pulled in at the waist with a belt with multiple diamonds set into it. A long flowing cape with a black fur interior and a bright white exterior also trimmed with gold surrounds her shoulders. She's wearing a necklace made of silver with two topazes and yet another diamond set into it around her neck. On both wrists she has golden bracelets and there's a silver ring made two look like a pair of snakes with flower crowns on her right hand. Her hair has been let out fully and brushed to the point where it is literally shining as brightly as the many pieces of jewellery adorning her. Two long plats have been made with it and these are rested underneath the main part of her hair.

"Of course you can," I say encouragingly. "I know you'll be fine."

Historia bites her lip and nods. She does a slow spin with her arms held out. "How do I look?"

"Like a Queen," I reply. In truth I think she looks a little bit gaudy. Such a large amount of fancy clothes just doesn't look like it could look good on anyone, even as someone as beautiful as Historia. Though it's likely that that's just my personal tastes.

"Well, I guess that fulfils one required aspect then. Now all I need to do is act and talk like one."

"You did a pretty good job of that in Orvud District," I remind her. "And it can't be that hard to just walk calmly from A to B can it? You'll be fine, don't worry about it. I'll be right there in row three the whole time all right?"

"Okay. Maybe I can do this. But, Matthias, be honest with me now: do think this is all a bit, much?" she asks, gesturing to the long flowing clothes.

I'm not going to lie so I decide to be blunt. "Yes I think it does a bit. But, everyone else will be inclined to disagree with me I'm sure. Besides, you only have to wear it for the one day."

"I suppose so. It doesn't feel very comfortable I can say that. I'm not a big fan of wearing a corset," she adds, rapping a knuckle against the undergarment wrapped around her waist.

"I would have said it wasn't needed."

Historia blushes slightly. "I'm already going to marry you there's no need to flirt you know."

"I wasn't."

She smiles. "Your highness," says one of her ladies in waiting hurrying over. "The proceedings are about to start now. You should come over to the wings where you can make your entrance."

"Oh yes, right. Thank you. Well, I'll see you on the other side Matthias."

"Right. You can bet I'll be cheering the loudest."

The cathedral where the ceremony is being held is supposed to be almost five hundred years old. Even though many no longer understand its symbolism, a large wooden cross gilded in gold stands behind the proceedings. I only half understand its significance myself. Something about a god being sacrificed from what I can remember. I've been reading through some of the old religious documents in the palace lately. Apparently the Riess Family still practiced a ritual form of Christianity and I'll admit I'm curious about a belief system that was once able to rule the minds of much of the civilised world.

The roof towers high away above us, more than twenty metres up. This building wasn't built by someone cheating with titan powers though, like the Walls or the Undercities. This tall roof was built by sheer engineering genius. And it is very beautiful. The windows are made of coloured glass depicting religious images of people and occasionally animals. I don't understand any of them really. There are numerous candles dotted throughout the room and a large raised platform dominates one end of the hundred metre long room. The walls of the building seem to narrow in by about four metres at that point, but really they are providing a pair of off shoots, like the wings on a stage.

Rows of wooden benches with elaborate red and blue crests on their ends fill the hall nearly all the way back to the doors. The room actually rises steadily the further back you go, allowing those seated at the back to still have a reasonably clear view of the proceedings. I'm lucky enough to be sitting in the third row, along with many of those who distinguished themselves during the uprising. The second row houses numerous officials and lower ranking commanders in the Regiments. The front row is reserved for those who will have to swear oaths to the new Queen; the Premier, the Regimental Commanders, the Chancellor, the Steward, the head of the Merchant Guilds and the Overseer.

The man up on stage is Premier Thomas Zachkley. He chose to side against the Central Government when the time came and played a major role in forcing their abdication. Still, people are wondering if it's safe to leave him in his current state of power. He seems to think he'll be more or less running the country once Historia is crowned. That pisses off a lot of people, including me. Right now he's giving a speech, and a long boring one at that. Not any of the speeches have been particularly exciting thus far.

Finally he steps down and a man in a long white robe with an elaborate golden scarf around his shoulders and a strange conical white hat with golden stitching comes up. I don't really understand his position besides a ceremonial one. He's the Royal Chaplin and it's his job to crown the new ruler, but besides that a few other duties performed on special occasions he doesn't seem to be very important. "Men and women of Althand," he begins in a very deep and solemn voice. "We have come here today to witness the crowning of a new ruler and the dawn of a new era for our nation. This coronation is unique in that it returns the crown to its owner by blood. Long has the crown of three stars rested upon the head of a usurper, but no longer. Today we return the ancient crown to the head of one who is appointed to it. Today, we shall crown Queen, Historia Riess."

At that the door on the right side of the platform opens and Historia walks out onto the platform, followed by two men in ridiculously elaborate red uniforms with swords by their sides. Calmly Historia advances to the middle of the stage. A waiting attendant brings the Chaplin a sceptre with a jewelled top. Taking it he hands it to Historia who holds it in her left hand. She then holds out her right and the Chaplin bows and kisses the ring on her finger. Then, the Chaplin begins again. "Do you swear the following oath?

"To stand at the head of your people in all times."

"To stand at the head of my people in all times," repeats Historia.

"In peace or war."

"In peace or war."

"In plenty or famine."

"In plenty or famine."

"In life or in death."

"In life or in death."

"That no purpose to you shall be higher than the welfare of your people."

"That no purpose to me shall be higher than the welfare of my people."

"Do you swear to die for them?"

"I do."

"Do you swear to provide for them?"

"I do."

"Do you swear to stand as their foundation, even when all collapses around you?"

"I do."

"And do you swear, to be their defender against all of their enemies, in any way, shape, or form?"

"I do."

"Step forward then, and take on the mantle of the Kings." Obediently Historia takes a small step forwards as the Chaplin turns to a second attendant who holds out a purple velvet cushion. On it sits a beautiful circular crown of gold, with silver wrought around it like the stem of a plant. Captured in these silver strands are three white gems. They're not diamonds I think. In fact I don't really know what they are. They flash brilliantly as the Chaplin lifts the crown from the cushion and Historia kneels down.

"Are you the people?" he asks.

"I am the people."

"And who are the people?"

"The people are me."

"I crown you Queen Historia of Althand," says the Chaplin, lowering the crown onto her head. "Rise up, your majesty."

Historia stands and turns to the assembly. "Long live the Queen!" cries the Chaplin.

"Long live the Queen!" replies everyone in the room.

The Chaplin bows and steps down from the platform, as those seated in the front row rise to their feet. Silently they file forwards to stand at the foot of the steps up. Then, the Premier comes first and bows before Historia. "I swear fealty and service to Historia, Queen of Althand," he says. "To serve as the leader of her armies and the governor of her Police. I swear to her my loyalty unto death." He leans forwards and kisses the ring on her right hand.

Next is the Chancellor, then the Steward, the Overseer, the Leader of the Merchant Guilds, the Commander of the Military Police, the Commander of the Garrison and finally the Commander of the Scouts, Erwin Smith. All eight men bow their knees in servitude and say solemnly as one, "God save the Queen." Then, they rise to their feet and return to their places.

Historia turns to the gathering. "I will from this moment forth serve as your Queen, and I pledge my undying loyalty to benefit of Humanity and this nation. For as long as I live I will attempt to benefit you all as your Queen. And now," she says, taking all of those who knew the routine of the ceremony by surprise, "There is a duty I wish to perform. There are three soldiers I would like to come up here: Major-General Erwin Smith, Captain Hange Zoe and Captain Levi Ackerman."

There are a few curious glances exchanged as the three stand up. They look just as surprised as everyone else. Even I'm in the dark on this one. Historia turns to one of her escorts and speaks to him quietly for a moment. The man nods, draws his sword and hands it to her. Levi, Erwin and Hange are now all standing before her as Historia turns back to them. "Kneel please," she says.

My eyes widen as I guess what's going on. This was impromptu indeed. That or she wanted it to be a surprise. The three figures kneel down dutifully. Starting with Captain Levi, Historia rests to blade on his left shoulder. "You are Mankind's strongest warrior, and have shown more dedication and resolve than many of those who have gone before you. I recognise your strength and experience." She moves the sword onto his right shoulder, then delicately withdraws it. "Stand up, Sir Levi." Levi stands.

She then turns to Hange, resting the blade on her left shoulder. "You have shown intelligence unmatched by your peers in the line of your duties. You have also shown much courage and loyalty both to myself and to our people. I recognise your courage and intelligence." Blade onto the right shoulder, then pulled back. "Stand up, Sir Hange."

Finally she turns to Erwin. "You are one of the loyalist warriors Mankind has ever seen. Your wisdom and bravery are what have allowed us to all be standing here this day. I recognise your wisdom and your loyalty. Stand up, Sir Erwin." All three soldiers stand facing Historia.

"You are all great warriors of Humanity and I hope this goes some way to beginning to recognise the dedication and resolve that you have shown in the fight against our great enemy. I thank you for your service." Someone in the audience begins to clap, followed by another and another until the entire room is filled with the sound of applause. The three soldiers bow low and Historia dips her head in return. They file down from the stage in a line a return to their seat.

"I thank you all for your loyalty, and I know that I can rely on all of you to benefit Mankind in the difficult days to come," says Historia. "For this day does not mark the beginning of peace, but it does mark the first step on the last road to it. I am certain that we can achieve victory, and defeat our enemy. Thank you." Everyone claps now without a moment of hesitation. Historia bows and descends from the platform to let everyone know that the ceremony is over.

"So, how does it feel to be Queen?" I ask.

"To be honest, not that different," says Historia with a shrug. "Although, now that the ceremony is over I feel a bit less stressed."

We're walking through the front hall of the palace. Historia has had to spend the last five hours accepting congratulations from hundreds of different officials, many of whom have jobs that I hadn't even heard of before. The floors are polished to the point where I can literally see my face in them and the high ceiling is held up by pillars of pristine white marble. From what I can remember the front hall is actually an addition to the palace since my time. I'll have to remember to ask about it at some point.

"You took us all by surprise at the end there. No one expected a knighting ceremony."

Historia smiles. "It seemed like a good time to me. I got the idea from Armin actually. I overheard him talking to Eren and he said it was shame that the nation couldn't afford any reward of substance for Erwin, Hange and Levi, since they were the ones who helped drive the uprising. Of course he was right like usual; the kingdom doesn't have the means right now to provide a physical reward, but a title is at least a form of recognition. I didn't finish fleshing out the idea until an hour before the ceremony though, so I couldn't speak with the Chaplin about it. I figured I might as well do it spontaneously. After all, I'm the Queen; I can get away that can't I?"

"I suppose so. How are you feeling after all those heartfelt 'congratulations'?"

Historia groans and rolls her eyes. "Ugh, you mean all of those aristocrats trying to cozy up to me in an effort to save their hides after spending years in service to the old king? I feel like I'm going to throw up. All they care about it is their possessions! I swore an oath only this morning to care for my people, and I think that's going to mean having some of these guys taken down a peg or two, and replaced with people who actually deserve the posts."

"That's not going to be easy," I caution. "The system's been in place for a long time now. You start booting long term officials out of power there's going to be a lot of discontent. These people control most of the Kingdom; you try to take away that control and they'll resist you."

Historia sighs. "I know. I tried several times to raise the topic of reclaiming Wall Maria with the Steward and the Chancellor, but they always steer the conversation back to internal economics. They don't want to fight back, they want to sit here and keep control over the power they have. The old heads of the regime are gone but I'm worried new ones are going to take their place." She bites her lip nervously. "And what's worse is that the Premier is likely to try and claim as much control over the throne as he can. Many people see this as a Military coup and he's no exception. As the head of the Military he thinks he gets to run the country now rather than me. Oh Matthias what am I going to do?"

I put my hands on her shoulders. "Right now, nothing. You've had a long day and you shouldn't worry yourself with more politics until the next one. For now, just forget about it and relax a little. We won the civil war and for the first time a real way is open to reclaiming Wall Maria. That's reason to be happy right?"

Historia lets out a sigh and nods. "Yes, for now I can set all of that aside. I don't have anything else on schedule except dinner." Her face becomes a little gloomy at that, "Which I have to eat in the dining hall, alone."

"Why on earth?"

"Because that's tradition!" she says in frustration, throwing both hands into the air. "The Queen can't eat with the rest of the commoners oh no, she has to eat with the royal family only. And it just so happens that at present there isn't one. Also I checked and if I break traditions like this it's unlikely that people will take me seriously."

"Who said that?"

"Chancellor Edwin."

"One of those aristocrats who doesn't want things to change? I'm not so sure you should be listening to him. It strikes me that if you want to implement reforms the key is to break away from stuffy traditions that limited the ruler to a figure head. If you ask me this would be a good starting point."

Historia pauses and thinks to herself. Then she smiles, "maybe. We'll see."

Half an hour later I'm sitting in the public eating area, as it's called. It's pretty much just a place where all of the non-royal guests at the palace can be dumped so that they don't interrupt the royal family's meals. "So how's Historia?" asks Eren.

"She's fine I guess," I reply with a shrug. "Apparently it's a compulsory tradition that she eats either with nobles or the royal family. No nobles showed up tonight and there isn't really much of a royal family right now."

"Dam, that must be lonely," he says.

"Speaking of which," I say looking at Eren curiously, "how's Mikasa?"

"Mikasa? She's coming along well now. The doctors say she'll be out in a few days." Eren smiles to himself. "I'm looking forward to that." He then turns slightly red as he realises he said that last part out loud. "Uh, I mean um..."

"Don't worry, I know what you mean," I say.

"Still, it seems like a shame," says Armin. "That after everything the Queen would have to be slave to tradition."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that Armin," says a voice. Everyone turns in surprise to see Historia standing in the doorway. She's ditched her more formal clothes and is wearing a plain dress with her hair tied up like usual. "Hi guys," she says. Dozens of people all scramble to their feet as she enters. Several of the soldier bow and mutter things like, 'good evening your majesty.' "Please don't that," she says. "It makes me feel alienated. Sit down please." A little awkwardly the atmosphere returns to normal as people retake their seats and resume conversation. Historia sits down at our table.

"I thought you weren't allowed to eat with us," says Jean.

"Ah, traditions can go get stuffed!" says Historia flippantly. That amuses most people. "I don't want to become some sort of aloof and far off person who only communicates with people of her station. That would make me just as bad as all of the previous kings, both official and otherwise. I want to do better than that."

"Here, here!" I say.

"Oh, by the way," says Historia with a meaning glance in my direction, "Matthias and I have something to tell you guys."


	25. Afterword

Afterword

And so we are brought to the end of the second book in the series. Thanks to everyone who's been offering their support and I hope to continue writing this series. In our next part we will be mainly focused around Operation: Underdog, the attempt to reclaim Wall Maria by assaulting Shiganshina district and trying to seal the breached gate. Of course that won't be all since there is a second (albeit shorter) act in the story. The main body of narrative will be concerned however with the Battle for Shiganshina as well as finally getting into a certain person's basement. There should be a lot more titan vs titan action as well as plenty of human vs titan action as well. There will be a delay between the ending of this story and start of the next one since I'm going to be a little slow writing due to the fact that I start exam revision in less than a week's time (sigh). I can't give an actual date for the publishing of the next book but it should be sometime in early to mid November. I hope you guys will enjoy reading the third part as much as I will enjoy writing it. I hope to see you next time.

The Lord of Silence


End file.
